No Pain, No Gain

When we were children, my grandparents had a piano in their home. It was more of a decoration since neither of them played. We lived in a two family flat. I lived on the second floor with my parents and my younger brother. My grandparents lived on the first floor. My brother and I had always wanted to learn how play the piano. All we were able to play was, “Mary had a little lamb” and “Twinkle, twinkle little star” with one finger.

Eventually, we talked our parents into letting us take piano lessons. We were excited when we found out that the piano teacher was coming on Saturday. My brother and I started a list of all of the songs that we wanted to learn how to play. We wrote down the names of all of our favorite songs that we heard in church. Then we listened to the radio everyday and added some of the songs that we liked to the list. We figured that since the piano lesson was going to last an hour, we should be able to learn how play at least fifteen songs. Maybe even twenty. We were so excited; we could hardly sleep that Friday night.

When the teacher arrived, we were ready. I handed her the list of songs and sat on the stool. She didn’t even look at the list. She had us play some crazy exercise over and over again for the entire hour. Then she told us to practice that exercise everyday for an hour, and she left. My brother and I were in shock. We looked at each other, trying to figure out what had just happened. I looked at the list of songs that we had prepared. I thought we would be able to play some of the songs that were on our list. I was so disappointed; I never took another piano lesson. As a result, all I am able to play today is, “Mary had a little lamb” and “Twinkle, twinkle little star” with one finger.

Nothing that is worthwhile happens overnight. To be successful at anything, it takes hard work. No pain, no gain. Although many of the great athletes, musicians and singers are gifted, they still have to work hard, practice and make sacrifices to perfect their skills. That applies to everything in life. Not only your chosen profession, it also applies to education, marriage, and parenting. It even applies to discipleship. Becoming a Christian is easy. All you have to do is repent of your sins and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. But if you want to be a disciple of Jesus, you have to work at it. Bible study and prayer are very important. You also have to make sacrifices. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24)

Do you want to be the best at whatever you choose? Or are you satisfied being able to play, “Mary had a little lamb” and “Twinkle, twinkle little star” with one finger? No pain, no gain.



Rev. Burton Barr's Trilogy on KINDLE Now!!!