Verse of the week

'I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri...and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts.' Exodus 31:2-3

In the Old Testament God dwelled with his people in his 'tabernacle', a big tent, and he spends a large part of Exodus telling Moses how it must be designed. Here, God also tells Moses how it will be built, for he has chosen Bezalel to lead the workteam, and he's equipped Bezalel with the gifts he'll need for this work by filling him with his Spirit.
This is the first time in the Bible that God talks of filling someone with his spirit - prophets, priests, leaders and preachers have gone before, but it's a craftsman who will build God's tabernacle who is the first to be blessed in this way. God uses humans to do his work; he chooses which humans will do it; and he equips them to do the tasks he sets them.
Christians have all been filled with God's Spirit; have all been given gifts to use for God's work. Whatever you're good at, whatever your talents are, they've been given to you by God so that you can work for God. How do you use your gifts in his service? Do you keep them for yourself and your pleasure, or use them for his?
The tabernacle was like a mini-creation; a perfect place where God dwelled and there was no sin. God chose and equipped Bezalel and his team to build this mini-creation. Ever since Jesus' resurrection, God has been building his new, eternal creation, a new creation that Christians are part of and which will be finished when Jesus returns to this world. If you're a Christian, you're part of that new creation, and God wants to use you to build his new creation, just like he used Bezalel. What a privilege to be used by the Creator God in this way!
This week, will you use the gifts of speech and friendship God has given you to tell others of Jesus and build God's recreated people; will you use your gifts to help God's recreated people; will you think of your abilities not as your own but as God's, given to you by him because you have been chosen by him to build for him?