ANCHOR DEVOTIONS (APRIL 21, 2012)

Tools of the Trade

Matthew 28:18-20


"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
(MATTHEW 7:7)

I was talking to another gardener one day and spied a pair of lopping shears in the back of his truck. I knew those shears were the most expensive on the market, so I asked him why he'd spent that much on a tool. A cheaper pair would cut a branch just as well. But he challenged me to give them a try. What a difference they made! After that I bought the best, and often most expensive tools I could find.

We are the tools Jesus uses to build His kingdom. What a humbling thought. And the wonder of it is that no matter what caliber of tool we may seem to be, Christ uses us all and fine-tunes us for His purposes. Do you feel inadequate in your ministry? God has promised to provide everything we need to serve Him. He takes us into His hand just as we are, and there we become instrumental for Him.

If you needed tools to do your earthly job, you would ask your boss and co-workers how to get them. Why not ask your Boss and co-workers in the kingdom of God how you can be a better tool in the Master's hand?

INSIGHT
FOR EASE AND PRODUCTIVITY, A CRAFTSMAN PREPARES HIS TOOLS BEFORE HE STARTS HIS WORK. LET GOD PREPARE YOU FOR HIS WORK.

READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
2 Samuel 22
Psalm 147
1 Timothy 3-4


Matthew 28:18-20
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 28:19 Or into; see Acts 8:16; 19:5; Romans 6:3; 1 Cor. 1:13; 10:2 and Gal. 3:27.


UNBROKEN

A lesser man would have broken. He was adrift for 47 days in the Pacific and spent the duration of World War in a Japanese concentration camp. He was determined to live, but had yet to find true life.