The master carpenter

Greetings brothers and sisters… Pastor Rob here

Picture this: I walk into a custom home and the cabinet maker has just finished installing some magnificent kitchen cabinets. So I walk over to him and say, “Those are beautiful cabinets!” And he replies, “Thank you very much.” Then, to his surprise, I say, “Oh, I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to your tools! Your tools have made some beautiful cabinets! 

How do you think that cabinet maker would feel? He would probably think that I was either pulling his leg or a little bit crazy. And if I persisted in praising his tools for the work he had done, he probably would not want to do any work for me!

Our Lord Jesus, when he was growing up, worked as a carpenter with his adoptive father Joseph. And I am quite certain that Jesus became a master carpenter. Today, the Lord has a building project that He’s been working on for over 2,000 years; He is building His church. And what are the tools He uses in this building project?… People! Jesus uses people to build His church. Just as a carpenter has different tools for different projects, the Lord has people with all different kinds of gifting that He can use. But there’s something more important than gifting that makes a person a useful tool in the hand of the Lord… humility! The Master Carpenter cannot use a proud person, for that proud “tool” will always want to take credit for the work that the Carpenter has done.

In the book of Psalms, God is given the credit for the conquest of the promised land: “We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the deeds You did in their days, in days of old: You drove out the nations with Your hand, but them you planted…For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them.” (Psalm 44:1-3) We know from the book of Joshua that the armies of Israel fought battle after battle in the land of Canaan. But it was not their brilliant swordplay that subdued their enemies; the Lord fought for them. (Remember Jericho? “The walls came a-tumblin’ down!”) Joshua and his troops were the “tools” that God used to drive out their enemies.

touch hearts

So, are you the kind of tool that the Lord can use? Are you willing to labor for the Lord with the understanding that any fruit from your labor comes from Him? You can plant and you can water, but only God can give the increase. (1 Cor. 3:5-7) The Lord Jesus is building His church and He is looking for a few willing “tools” who will declare, “To God be the glory, great things He has done!”

—Pastor Rob