Here's the verse I chose for today.
He will not stand before obscure men.
When Solomon was building the temple he said this:
"Now send me a skilled man to work in gold, silver, brass and iron, and in purple, crimson and violet fabrics, and who knows how to make engravings, to work with the skilled men whom I have in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 2 Chronicles 2:7 NAS
I'm afraid we - meaning modern American Christians - no longer care (as a whole) about people being "skilled" in their work. Actually, that's just a reflection of our culture in many ways. There are some people who care about skill and quality, but pop culture and the dumbing down of our culture has led to mediocrity in our culture and in the church.
There's an excellent book titled "Addicted to Mediocrity" by Franky Schaeffer, son of the famous theologian, Francis Schaeffer.
Quoting from the back of the book
Franky Schaeffer shows how Christians today have sacrificed the artistic prominence they enjoyed for centuries and settled instead for the mediocrity. The evidence for this sad state of affairs abounds. We are flooded with "Christian" doodads, trinkets, tee shirts, bumper stickers, etc., that use God's name as an advertising slogan - "Things Go Better with Jesus" - putting the Creator of the universe on the same level as soda pop!
... But it doesn't have to be this way...
Schaeffer offers not only an unflinching critique, but specific and practical direction for becoming "unaddicted," and for recovering artistic excellence. The punch, humor and satire of the text is effectively enhanced by nineteen original drawings by Chicago artist Kurt Mitchell.
A man "skilled in his work" doesn't just happen by chance. People who are skilled as doctors, painters, lawyers, teachers, machinists, musicians, gardeners, pilots, whatever spend quality time learning and perfecting their skill.
What are you doing to become skilled in the things you do? Are you studying, reading, practicing, improving? Don't settle for mediocrity. Be great!
Here are some other wonderful verses from Proverbs 22
1 comment:
v. 1 - A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold.
We are born into the world with nothing of our own beyond our names. God has placed an importance on being trustworthy, solid, dependable. I can think of people with great wealth who have a reputation of being good people as well, so it's not that God is against wealth (verse 4 states "The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, honor and life.").
We need to strive to have a good reputation, especially because there can be so many watching to see what "the Christian" does or how we act.
(As a side note - I like verse 24 in The Message "Don't hang out with angry people; don't keep company with hotheads. Bad temper is contagious—don't get infected." Life is short, it's better to spend it with happy people!)
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