Woven together

The Lord led me to think about the temple...the curtains and fabrics that were used for making it back in Exodus. In chapter 35: 23 it tells the tale of people coming to the priests with the gifts of blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, and skins that were dyed red that they already owned. Then in 25 the skilled or wise-hearted women spun more thread, dyed it and wove it. It says that those women's hearts were stirred with skill, or that it lifted them up in wisdom to spin the goat's hair. This was all brought as a freewill offering to the Lord.

Wow. The call goes out to build the temple and donations are requested. And the people go to work. First they give of their own possessions. What I have Lord, it is Yours. They then realize that it will not be enough to get the job done, so they set to work...they gather and spin with skill...I assume with the desire to make this thread the best for the Lord, and then they skillfully weave it and dye it the prescribed colors.

I love how the original wording says they were wise-hearted. That is apparently the euphenism of the day for SKILLFUL. They knew what to do, how to do it well, and did a job that was of the highest quality. The yarns were smoothe and consistent, the dyeing process was even and of equal value with the cloth before it, and the weave was of even and smooth consistency. What they were making for God's glory needed to reflect His glory by virtue of it's perfection.

How do we work for God? Do we empty our homes of the valuable things that He needs to build His church, either the building or the people who are the real church of Christ? Do we make lasagna for ourselves and serve the missionary visitors spaghetti, taking shortcuts in price and effort? Do we give our best work to the mission of the church, or to our jobs? Do we spend more on toys and vacations than we do the work of the church?

Then, when the needs arise to get the whole job done, do we go to work ourselves to make up what is lacking the in building of God's kingdom? Do we get involved in church activities so that we can uphold others, sharing in the tasks and the fellowship? Do we see what is lacking and ask what more we can do, or say we have done our part and let the burdens fall upon fellow believers? I picture these wise-hearted women spinning together, weaving and dyeing in a group...as the thread was spun and wrapped, the next gal would baptize it in the dyepots, and the next would hang the hanks up to dry, and others would test for the dryness, and wrap the weaving sticks, and the weavers would warp the looms and weave away! It was a group effort on all counts...

Oh, that we would work together to build the church, to raise an edifice in our communities that reflects the true glory of the one we worship, which is the building of the people of the WORD. Oh that we were wise-hearted, knowing the mind and will of God, prepared in the skill of weaving His Word into our lives so that what we produce reflects the perfection of the One who taught and trained us to do things His way, the right way. This is not machine-made, but hand-worked, and each pass of the shuttle, each tamper of the loom, will have a tension and a consistency all its own. The idea of God weaving us together in our mother's womb shows us that things develop over time, adding little more at a time to make the completed project what it should be. We can not add a little thread here and skip a weft thread there...or the weaving will show signs that things are out of place...and the only way to fix a weaving problem is to cut out the bad patch and re-weave, a time consuming and tedious process. If we follow step by step, warp by warp, we will be more likely to see where we have errored and be able to un-weave before the problem is so deeply inbedded that it has to be cut out. We can see the tensions in our lifes are right or wrong, being reflected in how much pull in or bow out there is on the overall piece. Will we lay in peace next to our neighboring threads, like the 3-strand cord that holds together with more strength than trying to go at it alone? A bare thread on a weaving loom is worthless...it is only when our lives cross those of others that all of us become strong and useful for the Weaver's bigger purpose. Let every fiber of your being be spun in the Hands of Him who wrought us, and let us work our piece of the process so that worship of God can happen in us and in others who come to His temple.