O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
Like most fairy tales, the tale of Pinocchio pictures a moral and spiritual truth, passed down in story form. I am most familiar with the Disney adaption, and it has been some time since I watched it. I do remember how Pinocchio chased after fun and pleasure and ended up as a marionette, a puppet with strings controlled by an evil puppeteer. He could only do what the puppet master controlled him to do, and then he was placed in a cage with prison bars. The more he tried to free himself, the more hopelessly entangled he became.
That hopeless picture perfectly encapsulates every sinner without Christ. Trying to escape, whether through doing good or finding pleasure in this world, only tangles the strings more hopelessly. Without a miraculous intervention, the outcome is grim.
But God…
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Jesus snaps those strings free the day a sinner calls out to Him for forgiveness and salvation. The believer who places all his trust in Jesus for his eternity is no longer controlled by his old master of sin. He is free!!! Pinocchio sang, “there ain’t no strings on me!” when he was freed. The believer can sing with Charles Wesley,
Do you remember the freedom you felt that day, my friend? Can you picture the chains that fell broken at the foot of the cross? Glorious freedom filled my heart with peace the day I laid the sin burden down there.
But then…
The old master, the old desires and thinking, continually calls back its demands.
“Your new Master is too demanding…”
“Why should you have to be so different. You don’t have to be such a Jesus freak to be a Christian…”
“The old days were more fun…”
“You are missing out…”
“That person does not deserve your forgiveness…”
“If you hand that person a tract, they will mock you…”
“You deserve better than what you have. Go get what you want…”
The old master’s calls are endless, but they also never deliver on what they promise. Soon, the strings we were rid of bind every extremity until we find ourselves far from the joy we knew that day of salvation.
Thankfully, we do not need a watchful cricket or a fairy godmother to rescue us from ourselves. We have a Savior who has been there before us who listens closely for our cries for help.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16
Romans 6 has much to say on our ability at salvation to walk away from those strings and throw ourselves wholeheartedly into the service of the new Master. He offers no strings to hold us but allows us to follow Him freely. The secret of staying string free is to mind His still, small voice in our hearts.
This can be difficult at first, as we are not used to hearing Him. But the more we obey His checks, the freer we become, and His joy becomes ours.
Where are you today, my friend? Have you become hopelessly entangled in the strings of the old Master? I love the audacity of David in Psalm 51, as he comes humbly to God in repentance. David’s sin of adultery and murder had no sacrifice to atone for it. The penalty of these sins could only be death. But God…
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it:
thou delightest not in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Psalm 51:16-17
He does not want us to cover or blame or ignore our sin. He is looking for humble confession and a putting away of that sin. And He will never despise the one who comes to Him with that kind of heart.
Holiness sounds so high and impossible when Peter writes, “Be ye holy, as I am holy.” Because He moves into our lives at salvation, however, He works out the holiness in us by our simple yielding to His checks. When we fail, He checks again. We ask forgiveness and yield to His Spirit again. Holiness is the simple determination to “mind His checks” and yield to His instructions.
“O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise!” Have a blessed Saturday, friends!
His Song in the Night 