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?
I think the creation around us answers that question quite clearly! We just enjoyed a gorgeous, crimson sunrise a few minutes ago.
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