The Music Must Continue

During lulls in battle, on occasions when young soldiers or navy corpsmen are training, Israeli military personnel sing a song in honor of those who have fallen in battle.
And we play on with one string less;
And again one string less;
And some strings that break will not be mended;
And some are mended, and again they will sound.
And this song can never stop;
And we’re forced to play on, play on –
The song is also a musical call to a commitment to continue in spite of the costs.

Israel’s land mass is only one seventieth of the State of Alaska. In addition to its diminutive size, Israelis can nearly feel the breath of neighbors hostile to Israeli existence. The nation has known adversity throughout its history. Ancient nations like Egypt, Philistia, and Babylon have modern counterparts. It has never been easy to be an Israeli.

The human tendency is to seek a course of minimal resistance, and one path is quitting. But, for those who are convinced of their calling to be the people of God, who enjoy a clear sense of belonging to Him and know the nobility of their cause, don’t shrink from the challenge. They sing the song that moves their forces forward.

The writer to the Hebrews urges all God’s children forward with encouraging words.
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay.
But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (10:35-38)”
Strings break. The music must continue. The costs are high. The cause is noble enough to give everything!