Good evening brethren and happy Pentecost Weekend!

Tools for the job 

I hope this note finds you well as you have likely just broken the fast Mr. Elliott asked us to join him in. Fasting is a wonderful ‘power tool’ we sometimes avoid using because of its unpleasant physical effects. But it’s a tool we are told to use to draw us closer to God, better understand His will and grow in humility.

Another tool we are given that we sometimes overlook is God’s Holy Spirit.  While we all know it’s there and are grateful for it I’m sure, sometimes we have a tendency to forget about it.  But that’s what the Feast of Pentecost is there to do - to remind us of what an awesome and powerful tool we have at our disposal.

What to work on?

Having good tools is one thing, but they don’t do a lot of good if you have nothing to work on. Even though it’s taken me much longer than I would have liked, one positive thing I can say about my ongoing bathroom remodel is that I didn’t find myself lacking any tools to do the work at hand.

Spiritually speaking, I know we all have a lot to work on. And certainly, we can’t complain that God hasn’t given us the tools we need to do the job.  The most obvious project, of course, is ourselves.  Overcoming human nature and being more like our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. Could you imagine trying to do that without the tools of fasting and the Holy Spirit?

More projects

When you own a house, the projects never end.  As soon as I’m done with the bathroom, I’m going to embark on some major purging - clothes, furniture, junk, maybe even a tool or two out of the garage. Spiritually speaking, the project of overcoming carnal self never ends, but we should be aware that isn’t the only project we are to be working on.

In the future, throughout the millennium as well as the great harvest that comes at the end of it, we will be working hard alongside Jesus Christ to serve humanity.  That’s a very big project, and one we look forward to, but there’s a bit of a paradox we should be aware of.  While we have a big work to do on ourselves right now, and a huge undertaking after the return of Christ, there is yet another work to be done between then and now.  That is of course the preaching of the gospel.

Just as you and I benefited from the work others did before us, others will benefit from the work we are doing now. Let’s be mindful of this work, and diligent to use all the tools God has given us to preach the gospel at every opportunity!