Artisans at Work

“All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded.”  Exodus 35:10

People who work with their handsa—the metal workers, the  carpenters, the bricklayers, the  carvers,  the  stonecutters, and, yes, the seamstresses—grace  the world with  beautiful things that enhance our cultural, religious, and everyday life.  Many times they are overlooked in deference to the highly educated people, but they are the ones who use their gifted hands to make  things that endure.

Some of the world’s cathedrals  attract thousands of visitors each year because of  their  masonry, engravings,  carvings, and stonework,  all of which is exquisitely fitted together to make edifices that are useful in themselves as well as pleasing to the eyes.  The same can be said of our state capitols and major libraries. They are crafted with  skill  and beauty that delight the onlooker.  Some individuals made their contribution by working with  fabric to provide drapery in a variety of decorative styles  and  hues, graceful additions to  the magnificent  buildings.

In Israel’s  wilderness journey, God recognized the value  of those who worked with their hands. He called upon them to dedicate their talents as artisans to help prepare their worship space,  the tabernacle.  He told  Moses  to set foremen  over the workers to direct the  vast array of talent that was required  to get the work done.  They made tables and staves and hangings, and intricate carvings,  but they also  provided color—blue, and purple, and scarlet  in  “fine linen” (verse 6). The finished work was a place pleasing to the Lord.  We too may be   privileged in some small way  to  have a part by lending a hand in  creating beauty in the house of God, the place  where  we worship  from week to week.

At God’s direction, the Israelites created beautiful artistry  in the wilderness tabernacle where God would “dwell among them”  (Exodus 25:8).  The tabernacle no longer exists, but God still wants to be close to us. In His word,  He has   given  directions that can guide us  in creating   spiritual temples, lives that are  tapestries of praise where  our God  can be pleased to  dwell within us.  Today, let us thank Him for creating inside of us His beautiful dwelling place.

Always,

Judith
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“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,
do  it with thy might.”
Ecclesiastes 9:10