Acts 1:8 (New International Version)
But you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Here is a
story from a workshop near you of a group of tools who live in a toolbox belonging
to a carpenter. One day, the tools had a meeting. You see, they have been
having some problems getting along with one another. They have been complaining
about each other, and each one of them thinks that the others are not doing
their jobs very well.
Brother Hammer
stood up… "Well, first of all, I want to complain about Brother Drill and
his family. I don’t see what is so important about their job. They are noisy,
always going around in circles and to me, brother Drill is extremely
booooorrrrinnng!"
Brother Drill
quickly spoke up…"Yes, I know we have a reputation of going around in
circles but at least we are not like Brother Pencil. He gets on everybody’s
nerves. He is so small that he often can’t be found when he’s needed. And when
he is found, he is so blunt at times that he makes such a bad impression. He
needs to be sharpened up a bit around here if he expects to be of any
use."
Little
Brother Pencil spoke up…"Alright, alright…I am a little blunt at times…but
it’s only because I’ve spent too long in service. At least I’m not like Brother
Sandpaper. He’s so rough…I can’t stand being beside him. He just rubs me the
wrong way!"
That remark
made Brother Sandpaper really angry. “Hey, what about Brother Ruler? He makes
me mad by always measuring others by his standards, as though he is the only
one right around here."
Soon,
everyone was shouting at each other. Some were even ready to leave the toolbox
when…who should open the toolbox but their master…the carpenter. He had come to
perform his work…to build a house. He pulled out the tools and started using
each one of them: hammer, screwdriver, drill, sandpaper, ruler…every single one
was used to do different things and to build different parts of the house. The
tools then realized their foolishness. The carpenter has use for each one of them;
there is not one that is more important or more useful. Big or small…the
carpenter needed all to build his house.
Let us
imagine that the whole church is a toolbox…we are the tools and God is the
carpenter. What kind of tools can you be? Maybe you are a little pencil…writing
a note of encouragement. Maybe you are a hammer because when you talk, it
knocks some sense into the heads around you. Maybe you are a drill…when you tell
a story…it reaches deep, deep down into the hearts. Maybe you are a ruler… always showing the right way to follow God.
You see, we
all have different roles to play in building God’s kingdom. What if there is a
tool that doesn’t want to be used? He’s quite happy just lying there in the
box. Do you think the carpenter is happy with him? No, because he is not doing
his job, not pulling his weight…
Everyone has
to do their part, whether we are big or small, young or old, everyone has a
different but important role to play. Just like the tools in the toolbox!
Dear Lord
please use me today. Help me not just lay in the toolbox and be useless but help
me be the tool that You have designed me to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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