In Exodus 31, God commissions the craftsman Bezalel, son of Uri, “to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.” More importantly, he “filled him with the Spirit of God.”
This is the first mention in the Bible of someone being filled with the Spirit of God, and it comes to a craftsman who is charged to use his skills to build God’s house. He was not a priest or a preacher, but an artisan whose work he dedicated to a holy purpose.
What skills do you have to offer God’s kingdom? Can you translate resources and Scripture into new languages? Can you develop resources or tools for people to use on the field? Can you host small groups or invite your neighbors to form a simple church?
Whatever those skills are, they are not unimportant.
Josiah, a software developer at Renew World Outreach, shared the fulfillment that came from using his skills as a member of the “nerdy engineering side of the body of Christ.” He says, “There are new opportunities for people who have been writing off their other abilities as something that is less than or that is not necessary, or that is not holy, to be able to step into using the skills and abilities that God has given them for the Great Commission.”
Who says that product development, or IT work, or hosting a small group, or making resources for others, or writing can’t be holy work? “God wants us to recognize that those skills and abilities and interests that he’s given us are not something separate from the person that he’s made us and from the Great Commission,” Josiah says.
What skills has God given you, and how can you use them creatively for his kingdom? Step into the good works that “God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10). If you can, join the Zúme community today.