Title: Let's Be Used by God
Contents
Let's become people used by God.
Exodus 25:10-22
A party was held at a millionaire's house. A drunken servant accidentally broke a wine glass and ended up staining the cleanly refurbished wall. When the owner saw that the new house was stained, he was so angry that he scolded him and became angry. Then he took the guests and went hunting. Then one of the guests offered to stay with the millionaire on his own. After comforting the restless servant, the customer took out a brush and began to draw around the stained area. The owner, who returned from hunting, was surprised. This is because the stained wall is gone and the beautiful mural “Deer chased” was completed in its place.
Everyone lives with a stained appearance. So no one is without fault. If I expose these faults to others, I hide them because I think it will be a blot on myself. I try not to reveal it. However, even if there is a stained appearance like a wall stained with coffee, just as the stain becomes a famous work by an artist, if we expose our faults to God and leave it in God's hands, God will become the painter of our life and make our life a wonderful life. I believe that you will make a life that attracts attention in front of many people by changing it.
In today's text, we see the making of the ark. The Ark of the Covenant is the most treasured box of the Israelites and is a sacred item. We do not know how important the ark is because it symbolizes the presence of God. Also, the ark was not carried by anyone when the Israelites marched, but the Kohath descendants of the tribe of Levi, specially set up by God, carried the ark and marched.
Inside the ark were a jar of manna and stone tablets with the 10 commandments. The ark of the Covenant, which was used so preciously, was not made in any way. There was a manufacturing process that God wanted before the ark was made and used. You must go through this process to be used as the great ark of the Covenant and the place of God's presence.
Through this process, we can see how God is making His holy instruments. And the process shows an important lesson for those who want to be truly used before God today.
Hopefully, as we examine the process together today, I pray in the name of the Lord that you and I will be used preciously before God and people by applying it to our lives.
First, the material used to make the ark was carved wood. This piece of wood refers to the acacia tree.
Acacia tree is a so-called Siddim tree commonly found in the Sinai Peninsula. It is inexpensive and has many thorns, so it is not very useful. It is also unsuitable for peeling. But God told them to make the holy ark out of this wood. A tree that cannot be used at all, a tree in which the impossibility is stronger than the possibility, but God named the tree and made it the ark of God. It has a very important meaning.
Even though the acacia tree is useless to the world, it is a discarded tree, but when the Lord took hold of it, the abandoned tree became the most precious ark of the covenant. So are you and me. Like an acacia tree, no matter how insignificant your life is, even if you are evaluated and shown by others, I believe that if you look to God, like God, and hold it in God's hand, you will become a person of precious attention.
Do you remember Moses' staff? It doesn't look that good in a movie. The staff of Moses, which is very long and beautifully sculpted, appears in the movie, but the staff that Moses used at that time was a pole for striking sheep less than 1 meter in appearance and not stylish. One such stick was taken by God's hand and used to part the Red Sea. It is used to hit the rock of Meribah to make water burst and to quench the thirst of the Israelites. The life of this staff was to be held in the hands of a shepherd and used in a humble way. Everyone thought that way, but God lifted it up through Moses, and the staff became a staff of power and a staff that saves lives.
So are we. As long as we too are held in God's hands, we can become excellent servants of the Lord, being used in God's holy work that I cannot even imagine, no matter how humble and insignificant beings are. The question is, do I really want and yearn for God's hands to be used and to be used?
When it comes to incompetence, there is nothing as incompetent as a little baby. A child is a child who needs to be fed, clothed, and unable to do anything without the help of an adult. But it's amazing to see how that little baby lives. All you have to do is cry. If you cry, your mother will take care of everything, change diapers, feed you, carry you, hug you, and put you to sleep. All things that she cannot do on her own are done by her own mother. So what does a baby do? Either laugh or cry. The best she can do is to laugh or cry, so she risks her life for it and then leaves it to her.
Everyone! How do these amazing things happen? A little baby is to believe. Who do you trust and what do you believe? It is believing in your parents and trusting that they will be able to solve your problems. That is why young babies are truly incompetent beings, but they are truly living amazing lives that they cannot imagine.
So it is really important to experience my inability in God. Would it really be a blessing if I could live a human life that does not experience this incapacity? It's not like that. He will not believe in God because everything is going well, and in the end, he will fall into the illusion that it is because of him that everything is going well, and the resulting pride will make him think of himself as if he were God.
Remember when my incompetence is experienced in God. That incompetence is not an absolute factor that determines everything in my life. Rather, that incompetence is a blessing to us. Because we have experienced that incompetence, we become humble before God. Get on your knees and become a person who sincerely prays Ultimately, you will become a person who experiences God's wonderful grace and power and becomes a person who praises God's power and grace through that life.
I bless you in the name of the Lord that you all become the protagonists of this amazing vision.
Second, when making the ark of acacia wood, there was always a process of refining it.
This is what we call finishing, and it is a process of becoming the ark. In this process, the bark of the acacia tree is peeled off. And boldly cut out the parts you don't need. The bark of a tree is essential when it exists as a tree. However, in order to be reborn as the ark of the covenant that God wants to make, the skin is reduced to an unnecessary part. It hurts and hurts when you cut it. Still, it cannot be used without trimming it, so in order to be used, the process of cutting and refining one's own corners is absolutely necessary. Since the material was so poor, it had to be refined even more.
One day Michelangelo passed by a marble shop. A large marble was placed there, and he asked for the price of the marble. Then the owner said, "I'll give it to you for free, so please leave it alone. I've left it for 12 years, but no one buys it, and it just takes up space, so it's a headache." So Michelangelo took the marble and pecked it, beat it, crushed it, and polished it to make a work. A year later, the marble master was invited to show it. “Look, this is the block of stone you gave me.” Then the marble master was surprised. Because it was one of the world's masterpieces, the statue of Jesus Christ.
He pecked, beat, crushed, and polished unnecessary parts of the stones that were scattered around the corner, and a masterpiece was created.
Therefore, so are we. Our faults must be corrected. Such refinement is possible through the Word of God. I must be refined by the word of God. Today, we hear the word of God. Through the Lord's servant, we are polishing ourselves to be used before God as an outstanding person today.
Therefore, when my life or my values are being refined by God's word, I hope that you will be happy to accept the refinement with the heart of "Oh, I must be refined" according to God's word. It's painful when trimmed. You may be thinking that it would have been better if you hadn't listened to it. However, I believe that I will become a person who will be used preciously when I am polished with the conviction that I will become great and be used excellently in the future.
Each person has an angular part. There are also soft parts. There is a proud part. But with refinement, you can become a great character. Then we can be used as outstanding attention-getters. I bless this grace in the name of the Lord.
Third, after finishing the ark made of acacia wood, it must be overlaid with pure gold.
After trimming it with acacia wood, God told me to coat it with pure gold. The gold covers the imperfections of the acacia tree and makes it shiny and dazzling. The acacia tree itself does not have this glare or shine. Therefore, God decorated such a part with pure gold to decorate the flail to be used as the last ark. Wearing pure gold symbolizes God's grace to compensate for our shortcomings. God knows our problems and knows our faults. That part was covered by God with pure gold, which is symbolized by faith.
Maybe everyone! Have you ever played with cosmetics? As a child, out of curiosity, I remember taking cosmetics to look like my mother's face, taking it here and there, and then standing in front of the mirror to see what I applied on my face, and then I laughed when I saw that it had been painted instead of makeup.
Doesn't her face look pretty when she puts on makeup? They said that when I got married, I looked different when I put on makeup. God wants us to use it preciously by cremating our shortcomings with pure gold, which symbolizes faith.
Conclusion. God knows me and your life in Christ. How can I become a person of God's value through an excellent life? He is the one who knows better than me about what I have to give up, what I need to change, and what I need to take on. God is also fully aware of the perfect way to transform myself into a person of excellence.
Therefore, even if I do nothing like the acacia tree, it does not matter to God. It does not matter to God, even if we have lived a life that exists like an abandoned acacia tree in the wilderness and no one pays attention to it.
That's right. God can do anything. Almighty God. When the almighty hand of God rules my life and I completely submit to that rule, my life can be reborn as a great work of art.
Therefore, dear ones! Longing for the great hand of God. And leave my life completely in His hands. Then God will surely shape you and make you the greatest person. And He will coat your life with pure gold that symbolizes God's grace. And finally, we will stand in a holy place where God's glory is revealed as a shining being in front of the world.
In the name of the Lord, I pray that this grace will come to all the Lord's people who want to be used preciously before God.