A young mother took her son to a concert by Paderewski-- Poland's famous concert pianist. She wanted to expose him to the talent of this great man to inspire him to apply himself to his piano lessons which he had just begun. They arrived early at the concert and were seated near the front. Standing alone on the stage was a marvelous Steinway grand piano. As they waited for the concert to begin, the mother entered into a conversation with the people beside her which distracted her from her son.
Eventually, eight o'clock came, and the lights began to dim. Everyone turned their attention to the stage and the grand piano. The mother looked up and was suddenly horrified. Her son was sitting at the piano banging out with one little finger, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. "Oh no," she thought, "How am I going to get him down?"
As she made her way to the platform, Paderewski himself appeared on stage. He went over and sat down beside the child. He whispered in the boy’s ear, "Don't quit; keep playing!" As the little boy continued to play, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began to fill in the bass part. Then with his right arm around the little boy, he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.
Friends, we can see an obvious parallel to how Jesus treats us when we seek to serve Him the best we can--primitive though our efforts appear. However, I want to steer us a different direction. Jesus said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:12 NKJV. One way in which this love is expressed is in making each other’s ministry better than it would be alone. Yes, it is my privilege to make your ministry better and it is your privilege to make mine better. Will you join me in this decision?
