Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of LifeSample

God not only kindly and generously gives us great gifts, but he also works in our hearts so that we would offer those gifts back to him.

I greatly value my second career (or maybe it should be called a very serious hobby). As a painter, my art is very important to me, and I spend a lot of my time thinking about the painting I am working on at the moment. It’s important for me to always keep in mind that this gift I have to create beauty on a large white canvas does not belong to me. If God is the Creator (and the Bible declares that he is), then he is the rightful and sole owner of my gifts. It’s humbling to understand that I am not the owner; I am simply the resident manager.

When I am in my studio, I am very aware that the particular artistic gift I am exercising there belongs to my Lord. He is the source of anyone’s ability to create art of any kind, and he is the one who decides to give a gift to a particular person. As Romans 11:36 says, “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.” I did not create my artistic abilities, and those abilities don’t continue because of my power. Those gifts don’t belong to me, and they have not been given for my glory.

In the Bible’s description of the design and construction of the tabernacle, that house where the Lord would dwell with his people, the curtain is pulled back and we are given a glimpse of where human gifts come from and why they exist. God wants his house to be artfully designed, and if that is to happen, there must be artists to execute that design, as he gives specific gifts to specific men to do that work. “Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work” (Ex. 36:2).

We should notice two things in this verse about God’s involvement in the giftedness of these men. First, we are told that God put skill in these men’s minds. What an incredible statement of the power and presence of God. He has the power to place human ability, skill, and giftedness wherever he wishes. This is true not just of the building of the tabernacle, but this is always the case. It makes sense that creative ability comes from the Creator, and if it comes from the Creator, then it belongs to him. But this passage also tells us something else. It tells us that God not only gives gifts, but he stirs up our hearts to use the gifts he has given. So, today, whether you have mechanical ability, the skill to cook a beautiful meal, musical giftedness, carpentry skill, or the ability to make your surroundings beautiful, stop and give thanks to the owner and giver of your gifts.

For further study and encouragement: Colossians 3:12–17