I make no apologies for dwelling on the same Bible verses of late; this is all part of meditation, ‘gnawing’ on God’s word until we have drained every last drop of nutrition from it. All too often I skip over passages merrily, keen to prove what a good speed reader I am. Now I’m slowing down, mulling over, reflecting, chewing…

I have always loved the Message version of Matthew 11:28-30 and today had new insight into the part that says “Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.”

Normally I swim and go to the gym separately, not keen on doing too much exercise at once, not keen on exhausting myself, if I’m honest. But today I had an unexpected lift into town that meant I arrived too early for swimming and wondering how to kill the time. So I decided to go to the gym first and swim after, secretly wondering if by the time I went swimming, I’d have any energy left at all.

It was then that I discovered why I much prefer swimming to anything else I can do exercise-wise. As I got into the water, tired and sweaty from the gym, it felt so easy to be in that atmosphere, where the water buoys you up and you barely feel like you’re moving at all. I understood what this verse talks about with ‘unforced rhythms’. Arms and legs moved in coordinated action and there was rhythm there. Totally unforced, very little conscious thought going on, relaxed movement in this environment of water where I felt rested, weightless and capable of doing far more than I’d ever imagined.

Music is a bit like that too. A good melody is full of different rhythms, blending together to form a tune that is repeatable, singable, fun. It takes very little ‘knowledge’ to learn a song and yet it always amazes me when I see that same song written down in the wonderful language of music notation. The rhythms are so complicated: dotted quavers, semiquavers, crotchets, minims, rests, syncopation, tied notes… how I love the language of music, but how it makes me think so hard when I see it written down compared to when I immerse myself in its unforced rhythms. I’m reminded of Ellis Peters’ wonderful Cadfael chronicles and the precentor Brother Anselm who writes down the tunes the minstrel Liliwen plays, to the young man’s amazement (‘The Sanctuary Sparrow’). The language of music notation enables others to reproduce the same rhythms, the same melodies, and consequently marvellous music lives on.

The ‘unforced rhythms of grace’ are so different to the forced constraints of the law. Legalism ties us up in lists of dos and don’ts: prescribing specific courses of action for any and every situation, adding minutiae to overburdened lives. We feel like we’re drowning in a sea of paperwork, squeezing every talent we have into government tick boxes, reducing life to a series of targets and outcomes and outputs. If we’re not careful, we’re like David forced into Saul’s armour. We can’t function in that way, because we’re not meant to. David had to fight Goliath relying on God’s strength, not relying on Saul’s armour. Similarly, we have to live in the ‘unforced rhythms of grace’, not in the straitjacket of the law.

Paul tells the Galatians, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1) We need to understand and revel in God’s grace. We are loved, accepted and welcomed into God’s family, not on the basis of what we can do, but on the basis of what He has done for us. We learn from Jesus how to live in a right relationship with the Father and understand that there’s nothing more we can do to earn His favour. Our whole lives can be like unforced rhythms, like swimming in water that buoys you up and keeps you afloat. We don’t have to be squeezed into the world’s mould, trying to be like someone else, always feeling we need to ‘depersonalise everyone into a rival’ (Gal 5, The Message) or to elbow others out of the way in order to ensure our own success. Instead, we can allow God to bring forth fruit in our lives and can rest in the knowledge that He who’s begun this good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6).