I have previously made mention of the fact that I enjoy DIY projects – or maybe it’s better to say I have a love-hate relationship with them. Whatever the case, in order to pull off a home or automotive repair effectively, you need tools. And I have a lot of tools.
As we’ve been packing up the house, it’s given opportunities to inventory what we have and make some determinations as to what we may or may not bring with us. This has afforded me the chance to look objectively at the tools I have.
Objectively speaking, my tools are nothing special.
Some were hand-me-downs. Some were secondhand. Some were bought not as part of a set, but just as the one piece I needed for one specific job. Some are showing a lot of wear and age. Many are mismatched or part of now-incomplete sets. Some are significantly over-represented (how many 7/32” sockets does one man really need?). Bottom line, no one would look at my collection of tools and think they were anything special.
Even so, I have used them to great advantage over the years. Sometimes this means using them exactly as they were designed to be used. Sometimes, whether due to my own lack of knowledge or just not having the right tool, I’ve had to use them in ways in which they were likely never intended to be used. My dad always taught me to use the right tool for the right job, but all bets are off when the car is in pieces in the front yard!
Bottom line, be impressed with me, not my tools.
I say that in jest of course, but it does point to a greater truth. Each of us is a tool for God’s use. Like my tools, not one of us is unblemished. We’re flawed, weak, and sometimes completely useless. But in the hands of a master Craftsman, we can be put to great use. And because we’re imperfect, none of the glory is ours!
Now, unlike my tools, we aren’t necessary for God to accomplish His purposes. But in His mercy, He lets us be involved in His work.
Romans 6:12 [NIV]
Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
The word translated “instrument” both places in that verse could also be translated “weapon” or “tool”.
So the question is clear. What kind of tool are you?
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