Refining Words

FRUIT

Work offered, chosen

by you for service

in vineyard, to bear

kingdom fruit.

An honor, privilege, joy.

And yet too often

wander into wrong field,

misuse given tools, think

only self capable.

Breed confusion, sorrow, blame.

Surround us by boundaries

within abiding that despite

tangled attempts

your truth grows.

John 21

Leaving Egypt Behind

Scripture: Exodus 40:2, “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.”

First day of the first month. Start with worship. Start with the Lord in the tent of meeting. “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”

Instead many of us begin backwards. We work and plan and strive and negotiate our lives until the waves threaten to drown us; and then we call to God for help. From shattered dreams and broken relationships and hurting hearts. We wonder where God is and why He let it all happen, when we forgot Him in the first place.

Israel repeatedly forgot God’s covenant, forgot His commandments, forgot His cautions. They mixed with the land, made treaties with foreign countries, met with false gods. And wondered why wars and wickedness and wrath filled their days, months, years.

“For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

Lord, I pray to start all my moments, days, plans, in Your kingdom. Start me walking in Your ways, on Your path, first. That I may be able to keep Your first commandment to love You with all my heart and soul and mind.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 32:6

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found;

Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not reach him.

Leaving Egypt Behind

Scripture: Exodus 31:6, And Behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you:

Appointed for a task. Equipped with talent, with knowledge, with skill. God appointed skills. Placed in hearts for a purpose. God knew by name and by assignment those equipped with necessary craftsmanship.

Created to create. What a joy to know our gifts and talents are God given in our hearts. Heart skill. Crafted into our makeup. “Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.”

Apply our hearts to nurture, to practice, to use our skills diligently Lord. To be ready at Your call. To serve You in our crafts. To joy in creation. To be faithful. To respond.

Lord, assist me to live creatively, seeking to serve You through Your gifts in my heart.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 37:23

The steps of a man are established by the Lord;

And He delights in his way.

Leaving Egypt Behind

Scripture: Exodus 25:3, And this is the contribution which you are to raise from them:

Matched ministry. The tabernacle required specific contributions for construction. Moses had to follow a detailed plan, God’s blueprint. But all the people were included, invited to participate. They invested a personal stake, their own offerings in accord to request.

Not what each person felt like giving. Not out of duty or duress. Not as a bribe to be a worker. An act of worship. An act of obedience. An act of promise. God led-Israel followed. What an excitement to watch the tabernacle built!

Mission in reply to God’s leading. An invitation to participate in God’s work; God’s way. How often do I ask what God would like me to give? Whether time or talent or money.

Nourish in me Lord, a giving spirit, available always to contribute to Your work, at Your invitation.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 73:28

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;

I have made the Lord my refuge,

That I may tell of all Thy works.

Leaving Egypt Behind

Scripture: Exodus 5:5, Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!”

New technological concepts root out traditional business practices like a farmer prepares his field for a new crop. Passerbys see a churned plot of land upside down, inside out, and no idea what the produce will be. From elementary school on, students speak a math language foreign even to older siblings. Speed and accuracy are said to increase production. Now people are expected to yield results at a quicker pace.

Pharaoh would have appreciated these developments. His goals were to fill quotas. Production-cost-money. Personal lives were of no consequence. They were slaves-produce output.

What about my own agenda? Is there room for people, for fellowship, or do I give all my time to completing my daily lists? How willing am I to stop the busy flow and become a participant in living? Perhaps I have become so caught up in fulfilling expectations that I am even doing those not mine to meet. I need Your discernment, Lord, to separate the urgent from the necessary, to make my life more than a production line.

Fix my tasks on Your choices. Keep my work within the boundaries You have set. Only there, will I truly feel satisfaction in completed goals.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 90:17

And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;

And do confirm for us the work of our hands;

Yes, confirm the work of our hands.