Intonation

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

Proverbs 27:17 ESV

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.”

Psalm 145:4 ESV

A guest post from my son Josh, written on the occasion of his Youth Group Senior Banquet for his high school graduation:

Hello. I am going to start with a story from my life. My brother got a piano but it’s out of tune.

What is the application of this story?

Well it made me think of how our lives are out of tune sometimes. And when we are not doing the right things we are not in tune.

But how is a piano tuned? It is tuned starting with one note, A (or C), relative to which all the other notes are tuned. And for us, that note is God.

Tune your life relative to God and your life will be in tune. He is the foundation of our intonation. As 1 Corinthians 3:11 (ESV) says, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Now I will continue the story…my brother is going to get the piano tuned. But tuning a piano is hard work, so he is paying a professional to do it.

What is the application of this continuation of the story?

It is this: That tuning your life cannot be done alone. And that it is good to have mentors and teachers who have tuned lots of pianos and so can tune you. 

Moving away from pianos but staying on the topic of intonation. I play cello including in the church orchestra. One of the things you have to do to make sure you are in tune is listen to the other members of your orchestra. 

This means that in addition to having mentors and teachers, you also need friends and peers to whom you can listen and who can listen to you, so that as a group you can get closer to what is good and in tune.

Prayer:
Thank You for all the mentors in our lives—the “conductors” and “piano tuners”—who have led us in our life toward Your Truth through their wisdom and understanding. And thank You for our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ, who have made up our “orchestra” as a group of people supporting each other and bringing each other along in our journey. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Journal: Who are your “piano tuners”? Who is in your “orchestra”? Write their names and how you’ve been helped by them and how you’ve helped them.