August 2007

In Tune

"I know my sheep and my sheep know me ... My sheep listen to my voice ... and they follow me." John 10: 14, 27

Once while I was playing my guitar in church, I wanted to play a cool riff and so I tried to bend one of the strings to bring out a cool tone. But to my dismay, the string snapped because it was too old to be bent so much - more than what it could take. My guitar was simply almost useless for the remaining two songs. Before going to the next session, I did change my strings, tuned it up again and there I was playing even more riffs with many more string-bends.

As I pondered on that simple incident, I did learn quite a bit from it. First off, my string broke because it was too old, not maintained well and rusty. Then when it broke, it put all the other strings out of tune too, thus making the guitar "not playable". I couldn't make use of the guitar as how I planned to use it on that day. But then when I put a new string in there and brought it back in tune, my guitar was able to do what I wanted it to do.

God created you and me with a plan. He designed you so uniquely that only you can accomplish the purpose for which He created you. But circling back to the 10th chapter of John, we see what "staying in tune with the Creator" means.

What does it mean to be in tune with God? Staying in tune means to know our God and being sensitive to His call and plan and direction in our life. Frequently we "get in tune" and "get out of tune" with God. When we walk in His ways, when our hearts and ears are receptive to His call and directions we are in tune with God and as a result God plays some of the best music with our lives - meaning, He can plan and do many great things in and through our life.

Sometimes when sin creeps into our heart, we become like that rusty string, worn out and ready to break at any time. It's time like these when we go out of tune with our God and become as useless as we can be.

David, in the Bible, was known to be a Man After God's Own Heart. That simply tells me that he was in tune with God. He knew God so much well, that God testified that David is a man after His own heart and God played some of the best music with David's life. He was adored and honored as the greatest King chosen by God. But at one point in David's life, he did become rusty and got out of tune with God for a little bit. But, to cut the long story short, after a little chaos in his life and reign, David was back in tune with God and offered himself as a useful instrument for the Lord again.

My friend, I guess God wants us to revisit our life and check if we are in tune with Him. Do we really know our God and know what He expects of us? Are we receptive to hear His voice guiding us on what we should and should not do? If we miss to be in tune with God, we will be missing on the many opportunities God has for us, we will miss on the many blessings God has in store for us. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss God's direction in your life too.

If you and I claim to be children of God, we need to refer back to John chapter 10 and check if we know God really well to be able to hear His voice and know what He wants of us. Are we receptive to be in tune with God listening to His voice? If you are not in tune, may I suggest you to go down on your knees even today and ask God to help tune up your life to be in sync with Him, so that God can play some cool riffs in and through your life and make you a blessing to the world around you, and then the world will know that the Lord God is with you.

Have a blessed month !!!

Your friend,
Eshcol