The Tool Kit
For every job, there is a tool kit. Your tool kit are the essentials items that you will need in order to accomplish the tasks that are required of you.
ï If you are a plumber you will need adjustable spanners, pipe wrenches and tube cutters.
ï If you are mechanic you need socket wrenches, screwdrivers, pry bars and diagnostic gear.
But it’s not just professions where you need the correct tools; if you are baking cakes you need trays, pans, scales and a cooker. If you are sorting out your budget, you need a calculator, spreadsheets, bank statements and bills.
If we want to be successful in our endeavours we need to make sure that we have the right tools and equipment. Can you imagine a builder turning up to work without his hard hat or steel toe cap boots? He wouldn’t even be allowed on site. Equally a plumber trying to tighten up a sink pipe without spanners is just asking for a leak to happen.
The truth is having the right tools is also not enough, if we don’t know how to use them properly. More often than not accidents or problems occur because we don’t know how to use them properly. As Christian’s we also have tools at our disposal, that if used properly, will enable us to become effective followers of Jesus.
The Bible: This is God’s words to us, it’s our ‘how to’ manual showing us how to act and live and be changed to be more like Jesus, but it won’t impact us if we don’t learn to pick it up and read it, to meditate on its words, study it and then apply it. Hebrews 4 v 12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Prayer: It’s our communication hotline to the creator of the universe, it allows us the opportunity to be honest, to share our troubles, our fears our thanks, our hopes and our dreams and to receive direction. There is no set way to pray - there are no magic words, optimum time or number of times we need to pray. God just wants to hear from you - but if we are not willing to open our mouths, if you are not prepared to listen - we will never utilise this great tool. Psalm 145 v18 “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”
Worship: You are I were designed to worship - not your spouse, kids or friends, not your favourite football team, wealth, material goods, or power and influence, but you were created to worship Jesus - your saviour, provider, the giver of life! Everything we have been given is a result of his goodness to us - that’s why he is worthy of our worship.
We worship on a Sunday in a service, but it’s also something we must engage with on a daily basis. Our whole lives can be worship from our work, to our chores, to our hobbies, to our relationships, if our focus is on thanking and praising God for what he has given us. Isaiah 25 v 1 “O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.”
Local Church: We should never underestimate the power of gathering together as the body of Christ. It saddens me when people say they don’t need the church, or people seem to only come when there is no better option available. The church is an essential tool for the believer, it’s the place where we learn, worship, pray, encourage each other and do life together. When we don’t come to church, we miss out! Hebrews 10 verses 24-25 says: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.”
So, how are you at using the tools at your disposal? Which ones are you utilising well? Which tools do you find you are neglecting? Each of these tools need to be harnessed if we want to become well rounded followers of Jesus.
My prayer for all of us is that we would make a concentrated effort to pick up those tools we have discarded and rediscover the power they can bring to our walk with Jesus.