Good morning, we are approaching the end of the month. I hope you are enjoying the year so far. Today, we read Exodus 36-38.
Everyone has a purpose
Opening these chapters, we read how the Lord has given skill and ability to a great number of people whom He wants to build the sanctuary. Not all of them have the same skills or ability, but all are called to use those talents for God.
They are called, but in verse two it specifies “and who was willing to do the work” (Ex 36:2, NIV).
To me, this implies that there were some who were not willing. Perhaps they didn’t think they could contribute. Maybe they thought enough people were helping, and they weren’t needed.
It is possible they didn’t want to serve the Lord. Maybe their personal experience of coming out of Egypt wasn’t as stellar as others. Or maybe they just felt that their own projects were more important.
Don’t get ahead of God
They may have even had a problem with Moses and his leadership, or had an idea that they could build something better and gain the Lord’s favor.
There have been several times in my life, while working for someone else, that I thought I had a winning idea and went out on my own. I started an ad agency, a magazine and a restaurant, to name a few.
The enemy will tempt us with delusions of grandeur.
Perhaps they were the work supervisor when they were slaves. Now they think they should be leading the project. Or they could have been given another important task.
In verse 4, we read that all those who were doing the work had to leave what they were doing.
Help carry the load
One of the great struggles most churches have is getting enough members to volunteer. For all the same reasons discussed about the skilled workers of Israel, they will leave it to the few who will step up to carry the load.
It becomes exhausting and many people just burn out.
The most common excuse I hear when trying to get someone to help is they have other commitments.
The people here had other responsibilities that they left to join the work of the Lord.
More than money
In modern times, many people think that when a church wants people to help, all they have to do is write a check.
Money helps, for sure. The church I belong to is beginning a building project and we are reaching out to many for additional funding. But, money isn’t enough.
We see in verse 5 that the giving was going well. They had more than they could use, so Moses had to ask for them to not give more.
Today, if a church had such a surplus, they would give it to mission work or helping another church in need.
Everyone has talents
Frequently, people doubt the significance of what they bring to the table.
Chapter 38 reveals that, while most ark coverings and lampposts were gold, many items were silver, and some even bronze. These lesser materials were equally necessary.
They didn’t make the bases out of bronze because they ran out of gold. The use of the base dictated the material used. Each type of metal, every fabric used, has a specific attribute that determines when to deploy it.
Silver is softer than gold, bronze is much harder. The melting point is unique. If you were to be shoveling hot coals out of a fire with silver, it would melt. The conductive properties would cause the heat to reach your hand.
You may think your only ability is to play the kazoo, but if you offer that talent to your church, they may have a project they wanted to do with kazoos and were just waiting for someone to have that talent.
If you give the Lord that talent, He will see you were faithful in what He had given you and will give you more.
When I first attended my church, the music director somehow knew I was a guitar player. She asked me if I would play with the praise team. That led to teaching classes, which led to helping with the IT needs and then preaching.
All of this led to God giving me the Book I released earlier this month.
When you resist helping your church, you are only preventing yourself from gaining the blessing God will provide.
Therefore, I encourage each reader to just reach out, ask how can you use me?
