Craftsmanship


1 Kings 7:13-51
http://www.esvbible.org/1 Kings 7:13-51

Being able to use your God given talents to create something beautiful for the Lord is an amazing undertaking. That experience isn’t limited to bronze basins or golden lampstands. Anything you do in the name of the Lord or serve to another person brings Him glory and honor. Hiram (not the King of Tyre) was honored to spend much of his adult life creating implements for worship in the Temple. He must have been an amazing craftsman to be given such an honor.

Our temptation is to belittle that which we do in service to the Lord. “Oh, it’s nothing,” says the person who spends a few minutes cutting grass, or raking leaves. Actually, it isn’t “nothing”. It is something important because God gifted you, either with skill or even just time, to do that thing and others are blessed because you did it – no matter what it is! Yes, Hiram made golden artifacts that adorned the house of the Lord and maybe(!) you don’t have those skills. But perhaps you spent some time on the phone today consoling a friend, or helped your mother-in-law what her laundry. Maybe you patiently sat by a second grader while they tried to figure out a math problem; or maybe you built a shelf for the janitor’s closet at church. The list of things we can do in the Lord’s name and because of His love is infinite and none of those things is unimportant. We can marvel at the listing of the things that Hiram created, but we can also marvel at the simple tasks that each of us do every day for the name of Christ Jesus.

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