The carpenter has the tools of a carpenter; the stone cutter, those of a stone cutter. What tools then do you take for My work? Tools of skill are the requirements of the workplace. Strength of mind and hand bring the wage. Time invested that skill may grow, brings forth greater wage. So too, it is with My Kingdom. Great fruit is the yield of My tools in the hand and mind of he who seeks to wield them. The fruit of the workplace with tools only of the workplace, is short-lived gain. Tools of the Kingdom in that same workplace, yield fruit eternal. Years of worldly diligence is required for life, and it is true the lazy suffer at their own hand, but for life received fully, the tools of the Spirit, gifted as your temporal talents have been gifted, grow in yield as they are used and refined. Bring also the eternal tools, and then the work of the paycheck will also yield a great work that fire will not destroy and time will not erase.
Romans 12:6-8 (ESV) – Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Eph 2:10 –
1Pet 3:15
Bottom Line: What did you have to do to get good at your job? If you’re like most of us, you had to put time into honing your skills. That may have been through education; a trade school or college, or it may have been just years of on the job training. Regardless, those years of dedication, your natural talent and your work ethic are what dictates, more or less, your effectiveness at work.
The Kingdom is similar. We have all been gifted with talents, spiritual gifts, and the Holy Spirit to do the things God wants us to accomplish with our lives. Like the workplace, this also takes a certain level of “Kingdom skills” that we grow over the years living out our calling as Christ-followers. What might those skills be?
How about our ability to quote truth from the Bible when someone needs the comfort and wisdom of God. That’s a skill. Memorizing key scriptures so they are on the tip of your tongue when the need arises. How about feeling comfortable with praying aloud with someone in need. That’s a learned skill as well. Being ready to give your testimony; that’s another. Leading a Bible study or a service project; these are all learned skills for the Kingdom, and like our skills for the workplace, we should be intentional in improving and growing them.
Be good at your work, both secular and spiritual. Build those skills. Ask the Big Boss where you should do some skill building. He’ll tell you, as His Word works in you, today.
