In a music group, everyone tunes their instruments to the same note, and then they can play in tune with each other. Years ago, you might have used an A-440 tuning fork and tuned by ear, but electronics have largely replaced this method today, especially in noisy environments.

The Lord is our tuning fork, and if we were all in tune with the Lord individually, then we would automatically be in tune with each other collectively. For example, someone in tune with the Lord in America can meet someone in tune with the Lord in China and instantly feel that kindred spirit.

Most of the strife in the world stems from people using different tuning forks. Many of those are bent or warped, and if you tune yourself to one of them, then you will be as off-key and wrong as they are. You begin to sound exactly like what you are tuned to. You repeat their frequency, even if it is wrong.

The Lord should be our one and only tuning fork. Jesus said that the world would know we are His disciples by the love we show for one another. Yet, today we see hate, bitterness, and discrimination spreading, and the rich enthusiastically exploiting the poor while masquerading under a Christian banner as if the Lord were proud of them. This should not be, and He isn't...

(Matthew 25:40-43 NKJV) And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'

(Matthew 25:44-46 NKJV) "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

We talk a lot about eternal life, but here Jesus mentions everlasting punishment and everlasting fire in some people's future. It's a sobering thought. There is a burning hell, and that is something we should consider when tuning up. "Oh, but hell doesn't apply to me!" Well, if your actions match those of the people He spoke of, you are gonna need to explain that part to Him.

(Malachi 2:17 NKJV) You have wearied the LORD with your words; "Yet you say, "In what way have we wearied Him?" In that you say, "Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the LORD, And He delights in them"...

Too often in Scripture, we see sincere people of God stumble when they "assume" the Lord was with them and approved of their actions. Each time, they had not actually bothered to ask Him His thoughts, and it ended in disaster. We love the lather, rinse, repeat formula, but the Lord is full of surprises, and your thoughts may not be His.

When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the Lord instructed them on how to take the city of Jericho. They were to march around it and on the last day, blow the trumpets and shout, and the great walls protecting the city would collapse. They did as He instructed and took the city with ease.

Then they came to Ai, which was a smaller city than Jericho. They didn't bother to ask the Lord what He thought. They just assumed He was with them as He had been at Jericho, but they were wrong. They marched right into battle and were promptly defeated, for He wasn't with them at all. A man named Achan had stolen from the Lord's treasury back at Jericho. If they had asked the Lord, He would have told them that He would not be with them anymore until they made it right (Joshua 7:10-12).

Later, when the men of Gibeon, a nearby village, learned what the Israelites had done to Jericho and Ai, they devised a ruse and went to meet with Joshua to make peace with them. They pretended they were from a far country and packed molded bread, worn-out clothes, and patched sandals. Again, the Israelites failed to ask the Lord what He thought, and they were deceived.

(Joshua 9:14-15 NKJV) Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.

Gibeon would have been one of the next cities Israel would have conquered, but now they had made a covenant of peace with them instead, and the Lord made them live with their decision. Between 250 and 400 years later, King Saul attempted to wipe out the Gibeonites with whom Joshua had made a covenant, and the Lord sent a famine on the land of Israel for three years. King Saul thought he was doing the "Lord's work," but when David asked the Lord, He was told this:

(2 Samuel 21:1 NKJV) Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, "It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites."

Even David, who was one of the great men of the Bible, sometimes forgot to check with the Lord. Some years after the Philistines had returned the Ark of the Lord to Kirjath Jearim, David wanted to bring it to Jerusalem.

(1 Chronicles 13:1-4 NKJV) Then David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader. ... Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

Again, we see the same pattern: David inquired of all the leaders and captains around him and then assumed the Lord was in favor of his idea. It was a big, beautiful plan that was right in the eyes of all the people, but apparently, the Lord had a different perspective on it. They loaded up the Ark of the Covenant on an ox-cart and were singing praises to the Lord with all their might when He struck one of the cart drivers with all His might and killed a man called Uzza. Their party ended miserably. They pulled the cart over to a nearby house, and everyone went home, except Uzza, who lay smoking in the road.

(1 Chronicles 13:8-13 NKJV) Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets. And when they came to Chidon's threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God. And David became angry because of the LORD's outbreak against Uzza; therefore that place is called Perez Uzza to this day. David was afraid of God that day, saying, "How can I bring the ark of God to me?" So David would not move the ark with him into the City of David, but took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

The Lord does not back our plans unless they come from Him, no matter how good they sound to our eager ears. We must remember that we work for the Lord, not the other way around. If we are in tune with the Lord, then we will also be in tune with one another. However, if we tune ourselves to a bent tuning fork, we will be as out of tune as they are.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me become tuned to You. Make what is important to You important to me. Help me see the world through Your eyes. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!