By Mike Caton

Exodus 35:34-35, “And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.”

There is another master craftsman God blessed with the skill and ability to get the work done for the temple, Oholiab. We could say much the same here as we did last time, about using the skills we have for the Lord’s kingdom. Obviously, in this particular case, they were building the tabernacle, an ornate and rich place for the Israelites to come and worship. And it was like nothing anyone had ever seen before, with the huge amounts of gold, silver, bronze and fancy cloth worked into it. But this was a representation of the Lord’s dwelling to these Israelites, and God wanted them to see the difference between where they were and where he was.

But there is something else about Bezalel and Oholiab, they also had the ability to teach others these crafts and skills. That is something that we need to grab a hold of this morning. There is an old saying, “It is better to get ten men to do the work than to do the work of ten men.” And yet how often do we think, “It is just easier to do it myself.” That is not going to really be a benefit to anyone. Sure, the work might get done. And it will be mostly done the way you want it. But you will probably be in a rush to get it done, you will be stressed out over it all. And no one else will learn how to do those jobs. And long term, what is going to happen when you are gone? We need to be training others for the jobs at hand.

And we need to be willing to be trained by others, to let them show us what to do and how to do it. The best teacher in the world can accomplish nothing without students. There are always people who say, “Well, he is the professional, let him do the job. He can probably do it better than I can anyway.” But you don’t know how good a job you can do until you try. And God does not measure us by others and what they can accomplish. It is about each of our hearts being committed completely to him and willing to give our all to him to accomplish his tasks.

Father, help me teach and learn from those around me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works as a full time AEMT with Hyde County EMS. Follow Mount Olive Church of Christ on Facebook for daily devotions.

READ ABOUT NEWS AND EVENTS HERE.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!