doing things to the best of your ability for God

The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them. (Exodus 39:42-43)

After the Israelites had finished the tabernacle and all of the stuff that went into it, they brought it to Moses for inspection. He pronounced it good.

You can imagine the relief they felt. They had worked hard on all this. They had built the tabernacle, all of the equipment in it, had made the priests’ clothing, had done everything God had said in just exactly the way he had said. And now they were through and waiting for the nod from Moses.

I would imagine that Moses was impressed. It had been a lot of work and a lot of expense. A large amount of gold had gone into it all, along with special cloth and wood. All of this had to be gotten from somewhere as they were in the desert. They had gone to a lot of trouble to do it, but they wanted to please God. So they did it to the best of their ability.

The interesting thing, too, is the fact that Exodus 37 said that God had given that ability to a couple of men and they had gotten the best of helpers. These were not some weekend carpenters. These were craftsmen, skilled and able.

And they did a lot, especially with what they had. Moses knew it, recognized it and blessed them.

It is a good feeling to do what God wants in a way that you know is good. When you finish, you have a great feeling.

Jeremiah 48:10 says, A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! It is not only the fact that the Lord doesn’t care for it, it is also the fact that you feel bad doing substandard work. He will take it, like you would take a sloppy gift, but he would just feel sorry for you, not proud of you.

You like doing good. You like the feeling that comes from quality work. Shoddy workmanship always leaves a bad taste in your mouth, whether you do it yourself or buy it.

They could have slapped some stuff together and then be surprised when God was not pleased. Nobody really likes to have sloppy stuff given them as a gift. And nobody really likes giving sloppy stuff to someone else. It is a shame that people dress so casually to go to church today. There was a time when people put on their Sunday-go-to-meeting-clothes to go to services.

Now you hear more and more that God does not care what you wear, just what is in your heart. That is true, but it is a measure of disrespect to go to pay homage to someone dressed in sloppy clothes. I have fallen in with the casual way too, mainly because I got tired of being the only one dressed up. You get to feeling like a freak.

I hear a lot of people brag on their casualness by saying “If you see a person here wearing a suit, you know he’s a visitor.” I doubt that there will be a sudden resurgence of dressing up, although I do see a lot of ties at the young people’s stores. Part of the Mad Men thing, I guess, dressing like the mid-60’s.

But I know that I want to give God my best. And I try my best to do it.

After all, he gave me his best when he sent his Son to bring me back to him. Praise his name.