craftmanship

Read Exodus 36 and Col 3

Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary in accordance to all the Lord has commanded. And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord has put skill. Exodus 36 1&2

Every day after work for several weeks, my wife and I worked on finishing an enclosed porch addition to our house.  We taped, mudded and sanded the sheetrock ourselves. We had watched others do this job. It didn’t look too complicated. But for us, it took a long time to make it look nice. We had a friend stop by most evenings to see how we were doing, and he was amused. “Why do you care so much?” he asked us. “Don’t you really have better things to do with your time than to make sure your walls are perfectly smooth?"

About 25 years earlier, my wife and I had spent evening after evening remodeling our bathroom. Finally it was done. It was our first major carpentry project together and we were very pleased with the finished product. The next weekend we went up north to visit her parents and when we were coming home, at our driveway, a neighbor was standing. We greeted him and asked him what was going on. He pointed through the trees. “See those flames?” he asked. “Those are from your house. I’m waiting for the fire department.” The house was totally destroyed. All our recent many hours of work were for naught. I thought, “The Lord must be teaching me not to make such a big deal out of making things look nice.” But, as some of you know, we live at a camp, Story Book Lodge. At about midnight that night, one of the camp board members called us up and said, “I have plans all drawn up for your new house. It will be beautiful.” And so it is.

Does the Lord care about things looking good? Was it really important to Him that the Tabernacle was built by highly skilled craftsmen? I’m guessing it was, as He was the one who gave the craftsmen their skill, and their intelligence.

I do believe that we as Believers are called to live simple and unpretentious lives. Paul tells women to give attention to their inner appearance and not to beautifully braided hair and costly attire. At the same time, the Lord certainly appreciates what has been well crafted. Look at Psalm 23 or I Corinthians 13 or the story of the Good Samaritan. Are there any more perfectly written pieces of literature?

I love to sing with other singers who carefully craft their voices together. The words of the hymns exponentially deepen when sung with others who lose themselves in the music.

Question? Does God care that things look nice or sound nice; or is it merely simply a waste of time to craft something to make it beautiful?