Fine Tuned for Greatness

There is nothing more beautiful than the sound of a violin to me.   The maker of the violin has the pleasure of constructing this beautiful instrument from wood to the final touch.  I have seen a violin made from start to finish, but I must confess that I am not knowledgeable of the terminology of the making of this fine instrument. The maker of the violin may finish constructing the instrument, put the finishing touch of paint on it and present the beautiful instrument, with the strings attached to everyone's approval, but it is not finished yet.  It may look finished, but it's not until the strings are fine tuned.   The violin maker then take the time to make sure that the violin is in perfect pitch.  There is a sound that he is listening for and  he has a special ear to be able to distinguish the right sound and to know when it is perfect in pitch and ready to present to others.

A new shiny violin in the hands of an accomplished violinist makes an awesome sound if it is in pitch.  The sound does not just depend on the musician, but also on the fine tuning of the instrument.  So it is with our Christian walk.

We may look presentable and even sound presentable to people, but the Lord has to fine tune (transform) the heart or the inner man to be presentable for His purposes.  There can be many hidden issues of the heart that only God can see, but in His perfect timing, He slowly and lovingly turns the strings of our heart to fine tune us for His glory.

Transformation is often a painful process and most people try to avoid the pain of change at all cost.  It requires changing our will to God's will.  It requires us to cut things that have taken root in our hearts for years and to take authority over sin issues that continue to creep up because the root of "self" has not been dealt with.  Just because we think we are right doesn't make it right. 

The Bible states,"there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof leads to death.  Wow, that's deep and scary.  In other words, I may think or believe a thing is alright for me to think or do, but at the end, if it does not line up with God's Word, it will lead to my physical death or eternal damnation.  The remedy, line your thoughts and life up to God's Word.  If you are deceived and think that you and the Lord have some sort of weird understanding and "you got it like that cause God knows your heart,"  I can safely tell you that you are deceived.  God has ONE standard, and it's called HOLINESS and without it, you won't see God.

Like a small child, we kick and scream at change.  We become upset at the people that He places into our lives to help us change.   We look at those who God places into our life to help us spiritually as if they are a two headed dragon trying to hurt us, but God is tightening the strings of our heart.  We tell ourselves, "no, that's not me or my issues," as we deny what God is desiring to do in our lives.  Even Shakespeare said,"to thine own self be true."  Don't lie to yourself, because if you do it long enough, you will begin to believe your own lie.  Self deceit leads to an attitude of defiance and rebellion and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.

It is the Lord who desires the change as we move from faith to faith and glory to glory.  God loves us and want us to be obedient to His Word.  Obedience brings peace.

Change is necessary for Christians and is unavoidable if we have a desire to be like Jesus.  God is moving us from our comfortable place to a place of victory. Not one of us would place ourselves under arrest and cut the root of sin, offense and bitterness out of  our hearts if it were up to us, but the Holy Spirit helps us to change.  We would take the road of less resistance, but to whom much has been given, much is required.

Do yourself a favor, be like the violin and allow God to tighten or loosen the strings of your heart so that what comes out of you will make a beautiful sound that will be pleasing to Him and He will proudly present you before others.  There is a sound that rises to Heaven when we  are in sync with God.  His ear is listening to our hearts for the sound that is pleasing to Him.  Be exceedingly blessed as you come into agreement with God to finish the good work that He started in you.