United Church of God

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

You are here

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

Downloads
MP3 Audio (20.71 MB)

Downloads

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

MP3 Audio (20.71 MB)
×

The godly heroes of the Bible were human beings just like you and me. None of us do it perfectly and none of them did it perfectly either. But we must practice God's way and keep going, keep trying – keep practicing. We take on Godly character. We say no to sin. We persevere. And we strive for the high calling of salvation, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit that He gives us to make it all possible.

Transcript

[Peter Eddington] I'm sure you've heard of the term, practice makes perfect.  It was drilled into me in school as I memorized my multiplication tables, used to call them our times table and as a grade schooler, you had to learn your times table up to 12 x 12, right?  Even today I can recite them almost verbatim like my 9-times table – 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81, 90, 99, 108.  It gets drilled into you and you just never forget it because you practiced it so many times. 

There was an article at BrainFacts.org from the 9th of April, 2014, entitled Does Practice Make Perfect?  Let me read you a couple of paragraphs:

“The old adage practice makes perfect has been applied to many kinds of learning, from high school chemistry and creative writing to music and sports. While experts continue to debate the number of hours and the type of practice that is optimal for success, one thing is clear: training improves performance and changes the brain.

Scientists first began examining the ways practice affects performance more than a century ago. A later study of women working in a cigar factory in the 1950s revealed that even after years of practice (in this case rolling cigars), people can become faster at a task. More recently, movement scientists studying college basketball players found that skilled players are better at making set shots at a foul line than would be predicted on the basis of performance at other nearby locations on the court...” suggesting that massive levels of practice can enhance the actions more than others.  And then finally near the end, “With the advent of brain imaging technology, we now know that the human brain maintains the ability to modify its structure and function throughout life through a process called experience- or learning-dependent plasticity.” 

This reminds me of a passage in James 2, we are told by James you see that faith was working together with his works and by works faith was made perfect.  By practice – by doing it – it is made perfect. 

You've all heard of boot camp in military training. Some of it's quite grueling.  Our elder son joined the Marines about eight years ago and has quite some stories about military drills, training, marching, and the use of weapons in intense practice sessions.  It was systematic training by multiple repetitions to insure that almost without thinking the correct procedure, action or response would be undertaken especially during a time of stress.  It's the practice makes perfect drill that they went through.  He said that some of the most intense training took place under huge distraction like being sprayed all over with pepper spray, which he said was an agonizing scenario – one of the worst experiences he has ever had.  And the Marines would then get water and try to wash it off, and that activated it.  And then they'd run you through a drill at the same time.  They have you prepare your weapon, run through an obstacle course under fire and still hit your target while in agony from the pepper spray.  And the only way to accomplish this is know your weapon inside out, be so well practiced that even under pressure and stress you still fire accurately, almost without thinking.  And it's very important on the battlefield, otherwise you'll crumble and fail.  And you've seen the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, documentaries about Navy Seal training with all that they put them through – sleep deprivation and everything else – but they're so well practiced that they still function. 
How does this translate into our spiritual life?  Faith is a belief, a deep conviction that God loves us and will always act in our best interest, no matter what trials and hardships we face at the time because after all, we, too, want to be able to say like the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “I've fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I've kept the faith.”

Aristotle in his piece, Nicomachean Ethics, said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” It's an interesting sentence: “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” You have to get out there and practice it. 

As we look at the scenario of practice makes perfect, and as we approach the season of Unleavened Bread and focus on being more like Jesus Christ, I'd like to weave in the story of the prophetess, Miriam. The story surrounds the time of the first Passover and she gives us an example of faith – not always perfect faith, but faith that has endured down to our time. Although God inspired Moses to identify Miriam as a prophetess while she lived, she was still highly regarded in scripture some seven hundred years later. What can we learn about faith and practice makes perfect from this fascinating story of the sister of Moses and Aaron, Miriam?  I've titled this message with an extra perfect.  It's called Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

So, what was the life of Miriam like? What can we learn from her? How can we relate to her today? Let's get back to the beginning of the story in the books of Exodus and Numbers – in particular, Numbers chapter 26 – like I said, a period in ancient history, ancient to us anyway – when the first Passover and the Exodus from Egypt took place. Numbers chapter 26. I've divided this sermon up into several sections and this first section I've called Miriam's Early Reliance on God. I've called it Miriam's Early Reliance on God. Numbers 26:59. This is just kind of the back story here, where Miriam came from.

Numbers 26:59 – The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi – so Jochebed was a Levite and she married Amram. And she and Amram bore Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam. So Miriam's mom's name was Jochebed, her dad was Amram, and they were of the tribe of Levi. So she was actually seven years older than Moses. Miriam grew up a slave – the daughter of slaves – many generations of slaves in Egypt – and assuming Moses was born around 1520 BC, then Miriam was born around 1527 BC – one thousand five hundred years before Christ.

Some 160 years before her birth, a famous family had fled the famine in their homeland and arrived in Egypt as refugees, and the patriarch of that family was Jacob, also called Israel. And his estranged son, Joseph, had become the #2 ruler in Egypt, chief assistant to the Pharaoh of the time. But after the death of Jacob, and subsequently his son, Joseph – 160 years later as we know in the story – there arose a new king – a new Pharaoh of Egypt who did not appreciate the Israelites – who did not know Joseph, we're told in Exodus 1. Recognizing how prolifically the Israelites had multiplied, this Pharaoh began to fear loss of control over his nation – over his country. And in an attempt to curb the Hebrew slaves – the Israelite slaves – he pressed them into labor on major construction projects. For years the Israelites toiled away in service to the Egyptians. But, in spite of the back breaking work, the Israelites continued to multiply. They continued to have families and babies – so much so that by Miriam's day, the Pharaoh took the drastic step of decreeing that all newborn Hebrew boys were to be thrown into the Nile and drowned – kind of like a late-term abortion type thing. Right? All baby boys of the Hebrews…throw them in the river and watch them drown. It was a despicable thing.

Look at Exodus, chapter 2. Let's take a look at the story. Exodus 2:1. We'll read the first 10 verses here or so.

Exodus 2:1-3 – A man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So they were from the tribe of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son... and this is who was later named Moses. ...When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. She tried to keep his birth a secret for three months lest he be thrown in the river and drowned. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. So Jochebed, the mother of Miriam and Aaron and Moses, defiantly refused to allow her baby son to be murdered. She hid him as long as possible. And when Jochebed could no longer hide Moses, she put him in a little ark of bulrushes and laid it in the reeds by the river bank. Miriam, the seven-year-old year old sister of Moses, took part in a risky scenario because the tiny basket might break free from protection of the reeds and get swept downstream in the river's current. And Miriam, if she was caught, might die herself for defying Pharaoh's order. Look at verse 4:

V-4-9 – And his sister – which was Miriam – stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." Then his sister – this is Miriam – said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"  And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the maiden went and called the child's mother. Of course, this is Moses' mom, right? Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. So Miriam sees the opportunity, bravely approached Pharaoh's daughter and suggested someone that could nurse the baby. And the nursemaid she had in mind, of course, was her mother, Jochebed.
Let's just stop and appreciate the dangerous situation this was. Imagine if the princess had not taken kindly to Miriam's offer. The baby could have been killed immediately or Miriam could have been punished herself. Even putting Moses into the river was a huge risk. What if someone else found him, not the princess? And then, verse 10:

V-10 – And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son – so probably after he was weaned, Moses was brought back to the princess and then became the princess' son. So she called his name Moses, saying, "Because I drew him out of the water."

Because Miriam took the initiative, Moses was able to spend his formative years with his biological mother. Miriam and her mother saved Moses' life long before he ever saved one Israelite. So this is the story of a remarkable girl, the older sister of Moses who became a prophetess of God. Little could she imagine that eighty years later after the first Passover observance she and her nation would joyously proclaim the final freedom from years of Egyptian bondage, as she, then, led the women in praising God for His deliverance. As Miriam lived and worked under the tyrant, Pharaoh, she learned lessons – lessons of faith that prepared her for her role in the dramatic events that lay ahead for Israel. She practiced what she believed and it became part of her life because practice does make perfect.

Miriam showed her faithfulness, loyalty and grace, and such character would have been commendable if she had been in her 20's or her 30's – you know, an adult. But she was only seven. Have we got any seven-year-olds here today? I saw a few leave before church - must have been here in the morning. We've got some young kids here. Can you imagine, if you are six or seven-years-old – grade 1 – just got out of kindergarten – Mom says, “Hey, take your little brother down to the river and stick him in a basket and see what happens.” You know? Do you see the scenario? She was only seven, but her courage in such trying times, where babies were being slaughtered for merely being Israelite boys, gives us a glimpse into what kind of woman she was to become. At an early age Miriam had a reliance on the God of Israel. And for this to continue, though, Miriam had to continue in her faithfulness, practice it in her growing years as she reached adulthood. Her early reliance, like this, had to translate into a continued reliance on God through her life.
 
Here's a fascinating example of this kind of practice makes perfect scenario from Time Magazine. As I read this, think, “Why does God command us to keep the Passover and His Feasts year after year after year? Why do we come back to this room week after week after week? Can't we just keep the Passover once and be done with it? Why do we repeat these things? Why does God make us repeat these things?” We would forget, wouldn't we? And He knows that.
 
Here's an article from August 20th of 2013 from Time Magazine by Annie Murphy, it's titled Over-Practicing Makes Perfect. And the sub-title is, The brain can get by on less energy when you over-learn a task. She says, “‘Why do I have to keep practicing? I know it already!’ That’s the familiar wail of a child seated at the piano or in front of her multiplication table (or, for that matter, of an adult taking a tennis lesson). Cognitive science has a persuasive retort: We don’t just need to learn a task in order to perform it well. We need to overlearn it. Decades of research have shown that superior performance requires practicing beyond the point of mastery. The perfect execution of a piano sonata or a tennis serve doesn’t mark the end of practice – it signals that the crucial part of the session is just getting underway.” And then further on down in the article, “...the University of Colorado-Boulder asked study subjects to move a cursor on a screen by manipulating a robotic arm. As they did so, the researchers measured the participants’ energy expenditure by analyzing how much oxygen they inhaled and how much carbon dioxide they breathed out. When the subjects first tackled the exercise, they used up a lot of metabolic power, but this decreased as their skill improved. By the end of the learning process, the amount of effort they expended to carry out the task had declined about 20 percent from when they started.” It was the same thing, but their body was using less energy to do it. Then later they say, “The brain uses up energy” – just thinking about things uses up energy even if you are just lying still – “and through overlearning it, can get by on less. These gains in mental efficiency create resources for other tasks infusing the music you're playing with greater emotion and passion, for example, while keeping closer track of your opponent's moves on the other side of the tennis court.” And then finally, “The message from this study is that in order to perform with less effort, keep on practicing, even after it seems the task has been learned.” In other words, you are getting better and better even when you can't tell you are improving.
 
So it's an interesting study and one that we can relate to as we practice walking by faith and keeping God's commandments and living a sinless life, putting evil out because practice makes perfect. You're not going to get there any other way. You've got to live it. You've got to do it. And like Miriam, if we continue this throughout our life from spiritual childhood through mature spiritual adulthood, we'll then get it. So appreciate Miriam's faith early on in her life.

Secondly, let's look at Miriam's leadership role.

Let's see where she ended up, where she got to in her leadership role, because as an adult, Miriam is given the title of prophetess. She's referred to in scripture as a faithful servant and prophetess of God. And after the exodus from Egypt, she leads the women in publicly celebrating and worshiping God after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. She showed true leadership in being a faithful woman of God.

Turn to Exodus chapter 15 and notice verse 1. It's in the recording of this song that we're going to read here that Moses identified his older sister as a prophetess – the first one recorded in the Bible. And even at a time when women held low standing in the eyes of men, the Bible tells stories of women in God-given positions of power and influence. So let's read the account when Miriam is identified as a prophetess. It's right after the Passover, like I said, and crossing of the Red Sea.
 
Exodus 15:1-4 - Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: "I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. Skipping down to verse 11:

V-11-13 – "Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand; The earth swallowed them.  You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation. Now, verse 17:

V-17-18 – You will bring them in and plant them In the mountain of Your inheritance, In the place, O LORD, which You have made For Your own dwelling, The sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established. "The LORD shall reign forever and ever."

At some point you may want to read the whole song. We just kind of skipped through it there, because when you read the whole song, it shows the passion, the belief and the faith that the Israelites had in God at that moment. They were on a real high after seeing God vanquish their enemy. It was a real triumphant time. Notice verse 20 now:

V-20-21 – Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them: "Sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!"

At this stage in the story, Miriam is now in her upper years, approximately 87 years old. She experienced the fullness of God's faithfulness along with the rest of Israel as they crossed the Red Sea on dry land and her Godly faith was much in evidence at the moment of Israel's triumph from the other shore of the Red Sea. After Israel is delivered from the jaws of death, Miriam took her timbrel and, following Moses' own song, led the women of Israel herself in musical praise of God for His deliverance. The context of her song shows that she clearly understood that it was God and God alone who delivered them. They faced certain death at the edge of the sea. Only God could have delivered them like this and that's what this song shows. And although the Bible shows Miriam did not hold a position equal to that of Moses, she seems to have been viewed as a near-equal in importance – her role in the nation.

So verse 20 refers to her as Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron. In other scriptures she is mentioned along with Moses, the nation's leader, and Aaron, its high priest. She was clearly held in very high regard by Moses, by Aaron and by the nation.

As a bit of a side note: six women in scripture are specifically mentioned as possessing the title of prophetess. There are five in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. In the Old Testament are Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noadiah and a lady called Isaiah's wife – Isaiah's wife, the prophetess – what they said. And then there's one, Anna, mentioned in the New Testament – mentioned in the gospels. In addition, Philip is mentioned in Acts as having four daughters who prophesied, which brings the number of prophetesses to ten in the Bible. There is one opposite – a woman in the book of Revelation – Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, but she's a false one. Of the ten female prophetesses mentioned in scripture, three were married – Deborah, Huldah and Isaiah's wife. One was a widow, Anna. Anna was a widow. Four were virgins at the time – that's Philip's daughters – and two do not have their marital status mentioned – Miriam and Noadiah. It doesn't say if they were married or not. But there is a Jewish tradition that Miriam married Hur. Remember Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands in that big battle? There's a Jewish tradition that Miriam married Hur.
 
Anyway, getting back to the story here in Exodus, after watching the Eternal miraculously put a final end to the Egyptian army, the Israelites were in a state of elation. They were singing and dancing and Miriam was leading the women in their own chorale. God had not only vanquished their enemy, He had done so in a dramatic way – in a glorious manner. And God vindicated Himself, delivering His people by drowning their enemies in the Red Sea. It's kind of, “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.” And so they drowned. You know what happened to the early Israelite baby boys, right? Well, Pharaoh and his army drowned. It's in Romans chapter 12 that we read, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. (Romans 12:19) And He did.

Miriam led the women dancing with a type of a tambourine. If only the chapter would end with this happy event. It was time to move on and three days past without a water source being found. Their reserves had been depleted and many were very thirsty. The Israelites were not perfect in their practice of faith and it wasn't long before they started to grumble. In fact, neither was Miriam just yet perfect.

You know, when we think of music and world renowned pianists, we think of people like Mozart and Bach and just how talented they were and are. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart said, “It is a mistake to think that the practice of my art has come easy to me.” Even the greatest musicians have to practice. They are not just born with their fingers just twinkling over the keys. He says, “I assure you, dear friend, no one has given so much care to the study of composition as I. There is scarcely a famous master in music whose works I have not frequently and diligently studied.” So Mozart even said it takes practice before you get this perfect, before you get this good.
 
Section 3 – let's look at Miriam's serious lack of judgment – Miriam's serious lack of judgment.

Scripture doesn't give us any indication that Miriam ever lost her faith – her loyalty to God, but God records not only the strengths of His faithful servants, but also their flaws, including their errors in judgment. The godly heroes of the Bible were human beings just like you and me. None of us do it perfectly and none of them did it perfectly either. But we must practice God's way and keep going, keep trying – keep practicing.

Look at Numbers chapter 12, verse 1. One of Miriam's actions – specifically, her criticism of Moses' marriage to a woman of whom she disapproved – disclosed what seems to have been hidden resentment, and it became a serious issue especially to God. Number 12:1, if you’re there:

Numbers 12:1-9 – Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?" And God heard it. Verse 3 – a reminder here – (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.) So it wasn't as if Moses was taking things upon himself he shouldn't. Moses was humble. Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!" So the three came out. Have you ever called your children over like that? “Come here, you two.” You know you're in trouble when your parents talk to you like that and Aaron and Miriam were in trouble. Then the LORD came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. Then He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayingsyou know, God says, “I'm telling him like it is.” And he sees the form of Me. Remember, Moses saw the back of God. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?" So the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed.

One of the most convincing arguments that the Bible is true – that it conveys a message to us from the creator of the universe – is that all of its heroes have flaws. These are real people. No author today wants to make his family look foolish or sinful, immature or disloyal, but we see it throughout the scriptures. These are real stories. This is the truth. Miriam and Aaron apparently chafed at Moses' preeminent calling and position. And since her name is mentioned first, it seems that Miriam initiated the criticism. Their indignation over Moses taking a wife outside of Israel provided them the protection and credibility they sought, or so they thought they had. But instead, Miriam received a curse. She and Aaron failed to acknowledge that it is God who sets up and removes leaders.
It reminds me of the passage in Daniel 2, verse 21, where it told He removes kings and raises up kings. It says God changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He removes kings and raises up leaders. And Miriam and Aaron missed that point.
There's a very important lesson for us here today, too. God does not take rebellion lightly especially when it comes from among His people and is directed against His authority.

Notice now verse 9:

V-9 -10 – So the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. Since indications here are that she had been the instigator of the criticism leveled against Moses, she apparently was the one singled out for the punishment. When Miriam set her hand against Moses, God had to react. If her rebellious spirit was allowed to spread, these attitudes could affect others amongst the Israelites. Others could start saying, “Yeah, who does Moses think he is anyway?” It's a very important concept when dealing with families, businesses and even entire nations, and Miriam was immediately recognized as cursed – rebellious to God. And she was exiled for a while from the Israelite camp, which, in those days, seemed like a fate worse than death. And as we see in verse 11, Aaron immediately cried out for Moses to help Miriam. He said, “Moses, do something,” and begging him to ask God for forgiveness and the healing of their sister. And Moses responded quickly to Aaron's cry. I mean, he didn't want to see his sister leprous either, and he asked God to heal Miriam. And God did, but He didn't let the event go unpunished. There was a penalty to be paid lest others see this and follow in her footsteps. And so we read in verse 14:

V-14 – Then the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? So let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again." God wanted everyone to know that He didn't take Miriam's rebellion lightly. But He was as quick to forgive as He was to judge and punish. It just lasted seven days.

This encounter must have had a serious impact on the nation – something they didn't forget very quickly. It was talked about years later. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 24, verses 8 and 9, reminding Israel about carefully observing all that God commands. We read of Miriam again here in chapter 24. It's right in the middle of a whole bunch of commandments and laws and regulations. God says do this, don't do that, here's this command, here's this regulation, here's this law. And in Deuteronomy 24:8 we see:

Deuteronomy 24:8-9 – "Take heed in an outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe to do all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. Because – Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt! Don't forget what happened to Miriam.

So when it comes to faithfulness – and practice makes perfect – God says, “Remember. Do not forget these lessons.” And some people would say that scripture is just filled with lots of regulations – more direction, more rules, more commandments, more do's, more don't's. But as the details pile up, we come to realize that God is leading us towards holiness. He's leading us to be more like Him. And His commands for obedience and love are never vague abstractions, but are always particular items to be attended to in whatever situation we find ourselves. God's commandments are important.

I love a quote from a pastor named Eugene Peterson. Terri sent me this quote, and I looked it up, and I found a website called thehighcalling.org. This pastor, named Eugene Peterson, wrote on September 13, 2004, on his website – thehighcalling.org – where he said, “God's Word is not poster calligraphy to decorate our lives. It is seed to be planted in the dirt of our lives.” But I like that. God's word is not poster calligraphy to decorate our lives. No, it's serious stuff. And like what we see happened to Miriam when she disobeyed, God takes rebellion and disobedience very seriously. We have to be faithfully responsible to God's word every moment. It takes practice lest we, too, err in judgment as did the prophetess, Miriam. And as we practice God's way of life, it will lead us to perfection. Practice will lead us to perfection. So don't forget about the serious lapse of judgment from Miriam because we can learn from that, too.
 
My fourth section is Miriam, the courageous national hero.

The courageous national hero. God inspired Moses to identify Miriam as a prophetess while she lived, and yet, we see her highly regarded in scripture some seven hundred years later. Look at the book of Micah here in the Minor Prophets – the book of Micah, chapter 6. God, speaking through the prophet Micah here, reasoned with and chastised the sinful Israel, reminding them how He had delivered their ancestors from Egyptian slavery. And here in Micah chapter 6, the three leaders mentioned to help in this great deliverance from Egypt seven hundred years ago included Miriam. In Micah 6:1, here's God – now He's not happy with Israel, as you'll see. He says:

Micah 6:1-3 - Hear now what the LORD says: "Arise, plead your case before the mountains, And let the hills hear your voice. Hear, O you mountains, the LORD's complaint, And you strong foundations of the earth; For the LORD has a complaint against His people, And He will contend with Israel. Verse 3, He says, "O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me. Tell me what I've done,” says God, “that you would behave like this.” Verse 4:

V-4 – For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. There are some names I remember, right? Let's bring them up again seven hundred years later. Micah – he – knowing how carnal Israel had become, attempted to persuade the Israelites by reminding them of the three courageous national heroes that they could only now read about in their scrolls. God honored Miriam by acknowledging that He chose her along with Aaron to assist Moses in serving His nation, Israel. And God listed her in such select company because she had set a faithful example for all Israelites in her time and all mankind – actually, forever. This kind of faith to be talked of seven centuries later and now we're talking about it millennia later, right? It's not built overnight. It takes practice and patience. It takes showing our faith by our actions, by how we live each day of our life and it's not the kind of faith that's hidden from view.

Look at James, chapter 2, over in the New Testament now. In this book written by James to the twelve tribes of Israel scattered abroad as it says in the first chapter, we read about this in rather plain English. Practice makes perfect cannot be denied.

James 2:14-17 – What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Verse 21:

V-21-26 – Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? You see, by his works, by practicing this every day his faith was made perfect. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

And by her works – by how she lived her life – she showed herself to be a courageous national hero. And we can take comfort in her accomplishments. Even though she had her faults, we also see her faith and she was honored for it. She was a real person with real challenges, just like us. She slipped up, but her life became a life of faithfulness to God. The fruit in her life, the way she lived showed her faith.

The question for you and me today is are we, too – each of us – leaving a legacy of courageous faith for our families to follow? So will our grandkids – those of us who are a little younger – one day say, “Remember Grandpa, he was a faithful man of God.” Is that the legacy you will be leaving for you grandkids? I don't think they will be talking about you and me seven hundred years from now, but hopefully our closer generations will recognize our faith.

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote, “What I have achieved by industry and practice anyone else with tolerable natural gift and ability can also achieve.” So Bach says, “I wasn't that great myself, but I practiced. And if you practice too,” he said, “you can also achieve it.” And that's how it is with our spiritual life. God expects us to practice it. And so we come up on the Holy Days every year, the Passover every year, the Sabbath every week, because He doesn't want us to forget. So we keep practicing this way of life and are reminded.

That leads us to the fifth section which I've just titled Your Faith.

Let's bring it down to today now and it's your faith. We talked about Miriam's faith, what about our faith? The final criterion God will use to judge us will not be worldly success, but faithfulness. He's not concerned about how good of a job we ended up with before we retired, whether nor not we had a nice car when Jesus Christ returned. No, He's looking for faithfulness, no matter what state we find ourselves in in life. But we have to do it right. We do not want to practice wrong habits. We don't want to become perfect at doing bad, by practicing that. We do not want to continue living in error or falsehood.

In his book titled Training at the Speed of Life, Volume 1, which is considered the definitive textbook for military training, Ken Murray – Kenneth R. Murray – writes on page 120 of Training at the Speed of Life, he says, “Everyone who has mastered any skill understands and appreciates the time and practice required to attain such mastery.” We know that. It takes practice to get that good. But, he says, “First remember that practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Don't waste time learning and ingraining a skill that is wrong or inefficient. It takes a lot more repetitions to unlearn a bad habit than it does to learn the right habit in the first place. Work on form. First get good and then get fast.”
 
So it has to be perfect practice, not wrong practice. Perfect practice makes perfect. So, yes, we must be practicing the perfection that comes from God. But we can't just practice anything we want. We've got to follow the rules. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Look at Matthew chapter 25, verse 14. Perhaps there's no greater explanation of this than in Jesus' own words in the parable of the talents – to parable that growth, to parable that character and faithfulness. God wants us to get it right. He wants our faith to endure. He wants perfect practice.

Matthew 25:14-21 – For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Of course, this man is actually, you know, Jesus Christ here in the story. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. That's a pretty good return – 100% return. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. Now after a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, “Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I have gained five more talents besides them.” His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

The lesson here is that God gives us something of considerable value and expects good stewardship and a return on what He has given us. He's expecting us to be faithful with the truth He has given us. And here's the primary lesson: Christ is not just talking about money here. He's talking about something far more important than talents and money. He's talking about the elements of spiritual character which He expects us to practice and grow and develop to bring Him a return on, when He comes back. The money or the talent is only the vehicle He is using in this particular parable to teach a lesson, to illustrate the point. At the end of the day, Christ is most interested in what we faithfully do with our spiritual talents. That's what it comes down to. Are we doubling our spiritual talents or are we burying them? These parables reveal that this physical life serves as preparation or training ground for something far greater which, of course, is our eternal life. How we live and use the talents, the gifts, aptitudes, abilities, the means and opportunities we are given in this life is critical. This is the big issue of life and that is our faithfulness to Him, our spiritual character. And the parable says, “Don't be like the fearful man who buried his talent in the ground.” He did not grow in character. He wasn't practicing what Jesus preached. The other two were.

The Biblical word for faith, he notes, is, that which is firm and can be counted upon. Can God count on us? Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines faithful as firm in adherence to promises or an observance of duty – observance of duty. And it also connotes absolute honesty and integrity. Someone who is faithful has integrity and honesty. The faithful person is one who is dependable, trustworthy, loyal – who can be depended upon in all of his or her relationships, and who is absolutely honest and ethical in all of his or her affairs. And so we say, is this the kind of faith that describes me? Honest and absolutely ethical with integrity?
Daniel, chapter 6 – just one verse – Daniel 6:4. Note what was said here of Daniel. The life of Daniel is fascinating to study. I think the last three or four sermons I have given have ended up reading at least something from the book of Daniel. The book here that is preserved for us to read today contains prophecy, it contains Christian living principles, it contains history. The book of Daniel is a fascinating piece to study. If you ever stop and think of all the Bible heroes, who would I like to be like? King David? Well, not everything. Umm. You know. Rahab? Well, not everything. Daniel? Yeah, there's somebody you can respect and look up to. Daniel served God in a masterful way in the midst of a pagan nation. Here's what's said of him. Here are some Christian living principles here.
 
Daniel 6:4 – So the governors and satraps – one translation says, “the presidents and the princes” –  so the presidents and princes sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom – what can we get on this guy? – but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. The New Revised Standard Version says, “…neither was there any negligence or corruption found in him.” Here was a guy at the top of government circles and they couldn't find any corruption. I mean, who in government or politics doesn't have some kind of corruption going on? Well, Daniel didn't. Like I said, the book of Daniel is great for study.
The words corrupt and negligent help us define, by contrast, what it means to be faithful in our daily affairs. They said he was faithful. They said he wasn't corrupt and negligent. The word corrupt is the opposite of honest or ethical. And the word negligent is the opposite of careful, thoughtful and considerate. Faithfulness is the opposite of being fickle and unreliable. A faithful person follows through and he's faithful to God, but also one's promises to other people. We deliver. We show up. We keep our word. We keep our appointments. We keep our commitments. We do our duty, both at church and in the family, and on our jobs. But a fickle person – the opposite of what Daniel was described as being – a fickle person changes his mind, switches loyalties, has switching standards, is unstable, compulsive, and uncommitted. An unreliable person can't be depended upon, can't be trusted with responsibility. But God wants to see us faithfully serve Him in obedience. We certainly don't want to be fickle in our service to God. And He watches to see how faithful we are toward Him – not fickle or unreliable with His Holy Spirit in our spiritual life.

So is God seeing faith toward Him in your life? In my life? Are you faithfully living each day carrying out spiritual duties as a son or daughter of God? Are you practicing this each day becoming perfect as He is perfect? In other words, are you putting sin out of your life diligently and heading towards perfection especially as we see that being pictured by the upcoming Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread? We are told to walk by faith. But as we find in our Biblical heroes, sometimes they were crawling by faith. Miriam had her down times. Abraham lied. We don't always do it perfectly. We, too, have our down times and only we truly know what those are just between us and God. But we stop crawling, we get up off our knees and we start walking by faith again. We use the spiritual talents God has given us and strengthen our faith and belief in what He's doing for us. We take on Godly character. We say no to sin. We persevere. And we strive for the high calling of salvation and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit that He gives us to make it all possible.
It's always good to look at the heroes of faith recorded in the scriptures for us to learn from. They were human just like us. They had their strengths and their failings. But here today, remember what we covered and think on how it applies to each of us.

  • #1 was Miriam's early reliance on God. You see, even at age seven, you are not too young to begin trusting in God.
  • #2 was Miriam's leadership role when they sang that song. We, too, have to recognize God's deliverance in our lives and praise God for the deliverance He is giving us each day.
  • #3 was Miriam's serious lack of judgment. We, too, must look out for personal pride, sin and lack of humility.
  • #4 was Miriam, the courageous national hero. We, too, must leave a legacy of faith and courage for our future generations to emulate and appreciate.
  • And then finally, your faith. Use the talents God has given to you, those elements of spiritual character and faithfulness. Faith is expressed by our obedience, but it takes work. Faith should be demonstrated each day. Faith believes and trusts in God. Faith can't be purchased with tithes and offerings. And faith distinguishes disciples of Christ from church attendees. Faith requires sacrifice of self and faith requires daily practice.

Remember what we read in Matthew 25:21 a bit ago – His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

If we seek to grow in faith, to walk in faith, to put sin behind us, we, too, have the promise of hearing our heavenly Father say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Practice living a Godly life every day because practice makes perfect. In fact, perfect practice will make you perfect.