"I AM"

Olivia Cameo Lewis August 1997 Email:  olivia@artcellar.net

In this remarkable passage we observe God inspiring in His people the skills that were needed to construct the tabernacle. These two otherwise unknown men, Bezalel and Oholiab, become famous by participating in God’s work and, more particularly, by the way they were filled with God’s Spirit to do so.  Not only prophets and preachers and charismatic leaders are God’s agents in renewal but designers, goldsmiths, silversmiths, embroiderers, and woodcarvers also. 

Too often we mistakenly associate the Spirit of God only with sensational miracles.  But this is to narrow down the scope of His activity and interests.  The Spirit is equally the ultimate source of all artistic creativity and craftsmanship which is dedicated to the worship of God.  As Philip Yancey points out, the Holy Spirit has a magnificent obsession with the ordinary.  Under His influence, what we consider to be merely natural talents and gifts are enhanced and released by His creative energy. 

By God’s grace I can gain great knowledge of the Scriptures and become a valued painter and speaker on the arts.  By the Spirit’s enrichment of what we have and do the order and beauty of God’s creation are expressed and God’s own glory shines through.  Never write yourself off or underestimate what the Holy Spirit can achieve with your meager stock of natural resources when they are all consecrated to Him. 

Gracious Father, I accept that all the powers and gifts I possess by nature are enhanced when touched by Your Spirit.  May I no longer see them simply as they are, but as they can be.  Heighten them I pray so that I shall be my best for you.  Amen. 

One statement occurs several times in this section.  It is this:  as the Lord (YAHWEH) commanded him.  Throughout the construction of the tabernacle Moses was motivated and driven by one all-consuming passion— to do everything just as God had commanded him. There were no short cuts, no lowering of standards, no cutting of corners.  Everything was built and crafted exactly as God had shown him. What a painstaking and obedient servant Moses proved to be. 

One of the greatest virtues we can possess in relation to God is obedience.  It is, as one preacher put it, “the high point of maturity”.  What place does obedience have in your life?  Are you willing to do what God asks you to do whether you feel like or not?  The apostle Peter tells us that we “have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood”  (1 Peter 1:2).  Notice that: chosen for obedience. The final achievement in the outworking of God’s purpose in redemption is that our lives should be brought into correspondence with His will. 

When Queen Elizabeth II (the present queen of England) came to the throne she received a wonderful letter from her grandmother, Queen Mary.  It was a letter of congratulation from a stately regal figure to a mere slip of a girl.  And how did she sign it?  “Your loving grandmother?”  No.  She signed the letter “Your devoted and obedient subject.”  Is that your attitude too?  You may be devoted to God but are you obedient?  That is where the rubber hits the road. 

Father, help me never forget that the purpose of my redemption is to walk Your way and do Your will.  I am truly Your devoted and obedient subject.  Amen.