Day 30, or January the 30th. Bring gifts, but
start with yourself. Our thoughts today are rooted
in Exodus chapter 35, verse 21. Everyone who
was willing, and whose heart moved them, came
and brought an offering to the Lord for the work
on the tent of meeting, for all its service,
and for the sacred garments. Now the big picture
surrounding this verse. The raising of the necessary
funding for the tabernacle project was a great
success. In fact, they raised more than they
needed, chapter 36, verse 7 tells us. Now that's
unusual and worthy of comment. They successfully
made the massive curtains just as God has previously
instructed, as well as the boarding and veils.
The curtains were simply enormous, and beautifully
decorated with elaborate embroidery. Each curtain
was as long as seven men lying head to toe, and
two men wide, and there were ten curtains to
be stitched together. They also made even larger
curtains of goat's hair to cover and protect
them. Other major items including the ark of
the covenant and the golden lampstand were lovingly
and beautifully made too and now our action step
for to -day when god's people share the same
vision which he has raised in their hearts and
minds funding is rarely a problem it is significant
that the funding for the tabernacle came from
people who were willing presumably after giving
the project some thought There were also people
whose hearts had been moved, which implies some
degree of emotion. The order is important. The
norm is that we need to coolly think things through
first, and then, as we respond personally, our
emotions are involved. Too often the order is
reversed, and we respond with our emotions rather
than our mind. There is plenty of room for emotion
as we seek God's will in our lives, but when
that emotion deteriorates into emotionalism,
we are heading for frustration, disappointment,
and more importantly, we are in danger of meandering
away from what God has for us. Think and enjoy.