A WORD FOR TODAY, March 3, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
We pray you have been blessed by this daily devotion. If you received it from a friend, you can see other devotions and studies by visiting our website at www.awordfortoday.org.
Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, March 3, 2025
“Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship, to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship. Behold, I myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent, the table and its vessels, the pure lamp stand with all its vessels, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, the finely worked garments - the holy garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office - the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.’” Exodus 31:1-11, WEB
I have been reading through the Bible with an online teacher, and we are currently reading the book of Exodus. As the Israelites waited at the foot of Mount Sinai, God spoke to Moses for forty days and nights, giving him the commands the people of God’s chosen nation were to obey. These commands included instructions about the tabernacle and furnishings which would be the focus of their worship. It would be God’s house among them, to be carried from place to place until God established them in the Promised Land. God was very specific about every detail because it was based on the true Tabernacle in Heaven. In Exodus 25, God said to Moses, “See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.” The writer of Hebrews tells us that the earthly Tabernacle built by Moses was merely a copy and a shadow of the true.
The expectations seem extraordinary. If you have ever been involved in a capital campaign for the new construction of a church, you know that there are a million details, and that it isn’t easy to pay the bills. There are always people who disagree with the plan, who would prefer to use different materials and craftspeople. God hasn’t handed the church blueprints for our buildings so we argue about every detail. We especially argue about the money. “Do we really need gold cups for communion? Does the font, lectern, and altar need to be made with the most expensive wood? We know we are honoring God, but where will we get the money?
Reading the description of God’s instructions for the Tabernacle is almost shocking. God demands the finest, most expensive materials in the world. As a matter of fact, the word “gold” is found more than twice as many times in the book of Exodus than in the entire New Testament, and more than half are found in Exodus chapters 25-30. Everything related to God was to be covered in gold, from the Ark of the Covenant to the poles that were used to carry the furniture. Where would they get so much gold?
Israel plundered the Egyptians when they left Egypt. I used the word plundered, but the reality is that God gave the Egyptians the heart to give Israel great wealth. They left Egypt with many beautiful things because God told them to ask their neighbors for gold, silver, and clothes. Would they need gold where they were going? Perhaps not, but God provided for what was to come.
In the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, God specifically tells the people that they shall not make idols to worship (verses 4-5) and then a few verses later, reminds them not to make gods of silver or gold (verse 23). Unfortunately, the people of Israel were fickle and quick to lose sight of the God who saved them from slavery in Egypt, the Deliverer who would finally fulfill the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of the Promised Land. While Moses was on that mountain for forty days and nights receiving the instructions from God, they began using these gifts to create a false god, a golden calf to worship. Shockingly, they even said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
At the beginning of Exodus 25, God gave Moses the outline for His capital campaign. It was not a tax. It was not forced. “For everyone whose heart makes him willing...” The materials Moses was to collect included gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. Some of those materials would have been easily accessible like the animal hair and skin and the acacia wood, but they had been freed from slavery and ran from their homes just weeks before God spoke to Moses on the mountain. Where would they have gotten any of those precious materials?
God demanded the best of everything, but God provided everything they needed to accomplish His expectations, even the skilled helpers who would create and build everything for the Tabernacle. We may question the practicality of gold covered poles or the justification for expensive furnishings; this is a question that the Church has asked throughout history. Should we spend money building a beautiful cathedral when there are more practical uses for our money? Does art have a purpose? Is it useful? Is it important? The truth is that art does have a purpose. Art moves us. Art engages us. Art helps us see the world through new eyes. Art allows humans the opportunity to create for God’s sake. Art comes in many forms: music, literature, architecture, furnishings, media as well as sculpture, weaving and painting.
God created, and He didn’t just make His creation practical. He also made it beautiful. He made the flowers more than pollen factories and gave birds bright and colorful feathers. He gave the leopard spots and the tiger stripes. He carved the mountains and the rock formations, directs the rivers and paints the rainbows in the heavens after it rains. He makes the world in which we live beautiful for the sake of beauty. Should we not do the same for Him, especially since He provides everything we need?
I love today’s passage because in it we see that God did not simply call a man who could organize the building of a building for His Temple. He called a man who was gifted in the arts and crafts. Bezalel was appointed to build a place where God is honored by the wonderful things that can be created by human hands. It wasn’t meant to be strictly practical. It was designed to move God’s people, to engage worshippers and help those who believe to see the world through new eyes.
We may not be talented like Bezalel, but we are each gifted with some ability to make the world beautiful. There may be more practical ways of using our gifts, but sometimes God calls us to move beyond what is sensible to what is beautiful. Yes, the gold might be used to feed the poor, but we must learn to find the balance between body and spirit, to do what feeds both with the resources we have. Who knows? That art might just be the thing that moves us, engages us and helps us see the world through those new eyes that will lead us into actions that will change the world.
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org
Peggy Hoppes
We pray you have been blessed by this daily devotion. If you received it from a friend, you can see other devotions and studies by visiting our website at www.awordfortoday.org.
Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, March 3, 2025
“For it is like a man going into another country, who called his own servants and entrusted his goods to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two. But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s money. Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled accounts with them. He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents in addition to them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents in addition to them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter. I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away. Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Matthew 25:14-30, WEB
There was a commercial on television for a credit card company that began with a very pregnant woman sitting in the midst of a pile of shopping bags. When her husband entered the room, she told him that she went to the doctor and then shopping. He praised the convenience of their credit card, because it gave them the opportunity to pay off the items slowly, spreading out payments at a time when need extra cash to deal with life's surprises. The couple walked to the baby's room, and when they opened the door, the father fainted at the sight of three of everything: triplets!
It was a commercial, but not very believable from my point of view. How could a very pregnant (with triplets!) woman manage to accomplish everything suggested in the commercial in just one day? She had a doctor's appointment, an exhausting experience that must have lasted several hours. They she went shopping, filling her car with a mountain of stuff. Then she took it home and set up an entire nursery with three cribs built, complete with sheets and other accessories.
I don’t know about the other women who’ve had children who read this writing, but I wouldn’t have had the energy to do all that in one day. I certainly would not have been able to put together those cribs all by myself, and the woman was pregnant with triplets. She probably shouldn't have been doing that sort of lifting. The store may have been able to deliver and build the furniture for her, but it never would have happened that afternoon. I definitely would not have wanted to make the beds and decorate the room. She accomplished work that most of us would have done in days, perhaps even weeks. When I saw the commercial, I wondered if the producers even had a real concept of time. The commercial wasn't about time, it was about money, which is a whole different devotional.
I read an article that suggested that with so many modern conveniences, we should have more time on our hands, but we are busier than ever. We constantly feel like we do not have enough time. As we consider our lives during this season of Lent, we ask ourselves, how we spend our time? Is time an enemy or is it a friend? Do we use our time well or do we waste too much time?
One of the things I am trying to avoid during this Lent is the reels and videos that are recommended for me on my Facebook page. I tend to watch cat videos, bakeries icing cakes, area rug cleaning, and woodworkers lathing bowls. It is amazing how much time I end up spending with my nose in my tablet. Every video takes time away from doing what I could be doing. We usually talk about today's Gospel lesson in terms of creating a windfall for the Master, accomplishing great things with the gifts He has give us. It encourages us to use our gifts (and our time) for the sake of others. It is also a message about using our time well.
The people thought that Jesus was speaking of a time that would come quickly, immediately. They were anxious for God’s promises to be made complete, for Israel to be restored and for God to be honored once again in the world. They were anxious to see the Kingdom of God rule over all the nations. The two servants did a good job at using their talents in the time they had to accomplish great things for the Master. The third servant hid the talent until the Master returned because he was afraid it would be lost. Perhaps if there were more time, the servant would have found the courage to do something. Perhaps he was just piddling away the hours watching cat videos on the Internet and would never have accomplished anything. Whatever the reason, time ran out and he failed.
I suppose we could try to accomplish all the things that woman did in that commercial, even if it seems impossible. What we learn from the scriptures is that time is limited. It might not be limited in the way we expect. The Kingdom of God may not arrive today, but Jesus is coming. We might have many years to accomplish the work God has called us to do. But the reality is that we don’t really know how much time we have, and that means we do not have time to waste. The Master is coming and He expects to see something to show for our time and talents.
How will you spend your time today?