Wed, Feb 24th - 4:08AM
Complicating Matters?
Complicating Matters By Smokey the Dog 02/24/10
The other Sunday I was listening to a wonderful offertory on the piano during the service. It took one of the familiar praise choruses and embellished on it, adding melodies and harmonies not in the original. I really liked it! Then I realized I probably would not be able to sing the song any more. It was just too complex for me to get the simple joy of the original. I wondered if that isn’t the way things get when we become Christians. At first we have that simple joy of our relationship with Christ. Then we start singing harmony. Then somehow lots of other notes get added, and before you know it, the original melody is lost. Now don’t get me wrong, I like a good musical arrangement as much as anyone. It’s just that I think we should leave well enough along when it comes to messing with the “song” of the Christian life. Don’t try to improve it. You can’t!
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Sat, Feb 13th - 6:19AM
The Carpenter's Tools
Brother Hammer served as the chairman. The other members of the tool belt informed him that he must leave, because he was too noisy. But brother Hammer said, “If I have to leave this carpenter’s shop, then brother Gimlet must go too. He’s insignificant and makes a very small impression.” (A gimlet is a small tool with a screw point, grooved shank, and a cross handle for boring holes).
Little brother Gimlet arose and said, “All right, but brother Screwdriver must go also. You have to turn him around and around to get anywhere with him.”
Brother Screwdriver turned to the other tools in the belt and said, “If you wish, I will go, but brother Plane must leave too. All of his work is on the surface; there’s no depth to what he does.”
To this brother Plane leveled his terse reply, “Well, then, brother Saw will have to depart too. The changes he proposes always cut too deep.”
Brother Saw complained, saying, “Brother Ruler will have to withdraw if I leave, for he’s always measuring other folks as though he were the only one who is right.”
Brother Ruler then surveyed the group and said, “Brother Sandpaper doesn’t belong here either. He’s rougher than he ought to be, and is always rubbing people the wrong way.”
In the midst of the discussion, the Carpenter of Nazareth walked in. He had come to perform his day’s work. He put on His tool belt and went to the workbench to make a pulpit. He employed the ruler, the saw, the plane, the hammer, the gimlet, the screwdriver, the sandpaper, and all the other tools. When the day’s work was over, the pulpit was finished, and the carpenter went home. All the accusations against each of these tools were absolutely true, yet the carpenter used every one of them. No matter which tool He uses, no other tool could have done the work better.
You and I are God’s “tools”. While we have our flaws, each of us has a purpose, ability, and a task to perform. Won’t you let God use you today?
Author Unknown
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Name: Smokey the Dog
