By John Sleadd, August 2007
I love simple explanations. I wondered what to say if a new believer asked me what he should do to grow in faith. I racked my brain for the shortest possible list, and came up with four basic habits. Next I put the list to a melody and created a jingle to help sear the message into the listener’s memory banks. Since I often lead worship at church, I taught the song to our congregation back in August. They smiled like they were preschoolers at a vacation Bible School camp. Here are the lyrics.
Read and pray and serve and make disciples.
Love the Lord your God and read the Bible.
Pray each day for strength to love your neighbor as yourself
O read and pray and serve and make disciples
Do it with love and thanksgiving
And faithfulness, and a heart of praise
Glorify our Savior, Jesus
Spread the Gospel into every place
(In your home, in your city, in your nation, in the world)
Read and pray and serve and make disciples.
Love the Lord your God and read the Bible.
Pray each day for strength to love your neighbor as yourself
O read and pray and serve and make disciples
My jingle approach must have worked. After church my ten year old son informed me that the jingle had been “over the edge, Dad.” The sing-song-y melody had stuck in his mind like an annoying burr in the sock. I caught him hating it later, too, by humming it around the house. Sweet success.
Now let’s test the substance of my lyrics.
Read - The Holy Scriptures are the inerrant, sufficient Word of God, sharper than a two-edged sword, useful for every good work. We cannot know God or His righteous commands apart from His Word.We should delight in reading the Bible. Sola Scriptura.
Pray - God both commands and invites us to pray. I view prayer as a conduit of conversation with and to God. When we speak back to Him words from Scripture with pure motives, our prayers become powerful and effective because we are conforming our thoughts to His revealed will. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer.
Serve – Jesus was obedient unto death in the service of His Father. Just as He washed his disciples feet and offered himself on a cross to atone for our sins, we are to have a heart of service.Children are to serve their parents by obeying and honoring them. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, which includes caring for their needs and serving them.
Make Disciples – The Great Commission calls us to go and make disciples, teaching them all that the Lord commanded.
What exactly has the Lord commanded? To find out I recommend that Christians start by reading the Scriptures and then pray about it. Jesus summed it up like this: Love God utterly and completely. Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). The Scriptures also tell us to practice confession, repentance, belief, trust, humility, submission, patience, and gentleness. We are to be ambassadors of faith bearing witness to God’s grace. The call to serve and make disciples becomes clear. Especially if you sing it. May God bless and sanctify you as you ...
Read and pray and serve and make disciples.
Love the Lord your God and read the Bible.
Pray each day for strength to love your neighbor as yourself
O read and pray and serve and make disciples
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