Day 96 – Thankful for wind chimes and for the Spirit wind ringing out His love

I think that in the past, January is the month where I have just trudged through the month. Christmas is over, and spring is at least 2 months away.

So, this looking for something to be thankful for in January has me reaching a little farther, beyond my normal, beyond my negative feelings about coldness, lack of living color, and the lack of fun things to do or the energy to do them.

I actually welcome snow as something exciting to look at because it covers all the dead-looking plants, the dirt, and the messes! We may get some more snow tonight, and just typing that made a little smile creep onto my face and loosened up the muscles on my brow with hope! Hey, I’m coming out of it just thinking of it!! 🙂

But there is a sound that I love that I have been taking for granted so much that I’ve almost stopped hearing it. Do you ever do that?

The sound is the wind chimes outside our house. Right now, as I type, they are tinkling almost continuously in the wind gusts. They make such a pleasant sound!

My husband and I have four different sets of wind chimes in three different places around the house, so it is possible to hear them from several places within the house.

I really like the ones that are like metal tubes the best! They have a more clear-sounding ring to them than solid metal. The solid metal ones that we have make more of a clink-clink sound instead of a reverberating, ringing sound. I like the larger and longer tubes the best since they make a deeper sound, but I like the smaller ones, too!

Have you ever been listening to a somber piece of orchestra music, and then the chimes tinkle? Don’t they make a cheerful sound? I like those, too!

This reminds me that the chimes have to be moved by some force.

They have no force of their own to make a sound.

The orchestral chimes are moved by a musician; the wind chimes are moved by something we cannot see, the wind!

Jesus spoke about this with Nicodemus in John chapter 3: “The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 NLT

The wind comes and makes music in the chimes.

The Spirit of God comes and makes music in our hearts!

What music, you may ask?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22,23 NASB

Okay, so that may not be the same as actual music on a scale, but how many songs are there that have been written about love? Countless!

• And does true, selfless, love not bring joy and peace?
• And are loving people not more prone to kindness and goodness?
• And is true love not faithful and self-controlled?

So, all these qualities are all directly or indirectly a part of the songs about the love of God.

We can’t make this heart music on our own. We need the Spirit wind of God to move within us to make this music of love.

As Jesus was explaining this to Nicodemus, He uttered the words that are, perhaps, one of the most memorized Bible verses.:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Putting our trust in Jesus Christ in regards to the saving work that He did for us on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins is what needs to happen in order for His Holy Spirit to come in and move in our hearts.

After all, would not the music of the chimes be hindered by wasps nests in the chimes? (Yes, wasps really tried to do that.)

So, sin in our hearts hinders the music of love that God wants to make in and through us.  He wants to forgive us.  Have you trusted Jesus to forgive your sins?  If not, let this be the day!

Today I am thankful for wind chimes and for the Spirit wind that blows in the hearts of God’s children to ring out His love for all to see!

What about you?  Do you like the sound of chimes?  What other sounds have you heard the wind make?  What are some ways that you’ve experienced the blowing of the Spirit Wind in your life or through someone else’s?