Bezalel and Aholiab

Exodus 31:1-11, 36:1-38, Psalm 127, I Corinthians 14:12

Dear God,

I am amazed at the ways in which You equip Your servants to do Your work.  I remember my mother teaching me about J. Hudson Taylor, a pioneer missionary to China.  He once said, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply!”  It’s true.

I thank You for the way in which You provide strength, skill, and the Spirit to anoint and make my craft successful for Your Glory.

I often think about Bezalel and Aholiab, Moses’ craftsmen for the Hebrew tabernacle.  You  gifted them with imaginations, hands, and artistic ability.  And You allowed the Egyptians to pick up the tab for their training!

Lord, would You so gift my hands for the tasks before me today?  My work is not with gold, silver, bronze, jewels or fabrics.  My work is with people.  I am seeking to etch truth, holiness, leadership, righteousness, transformation, and grace upon the tables of the hearts of men and women.  Certainly, the work of my hands is the one You have appointed for me.  Equip me with skills and strength to perform these tasks.

I choose to appropriate Your grace in my life to hone Your craft and calling in me.  I recognize Your calling and anointing, but I also recognize that excellence is a discipline that is cultivated through diligent work.  As I strive for excellence, save me from the idolatrous pit of perfectionism, that makes my work about me, instead of an act of worship to You.  I commit myself to excellence for Your Glory.

Help me never to forget that for my work to matter, it must be blessed with the brush of the Eternal. Just as my cheek brushes that of my wife in a gentle caress, may You brush Your Presence and touch over my life.  I choose to live a life that matters because I have been anointed by You for the tasks of today.  I live with a certain faith and confidence that You are with me, upon me, and within me to the end that You will be magnified with the way I perform my craft.  I choose to live for Your Glory.

In the Name of my Father, His Son Jesus–my elder brother, and the Holy Spirit who anoints and indwells me,
Amen.