Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Apr 3, 2008 23:40:29 GMT -5
THE BLACKSMITH'S SHOP
by Max Lucado
In the shop of a blacksmith, there are three types of tools. There are
tools on the junk pile:
outdated, broken, dull, rusty.
They sit in the cobwebbed corner, useless to their master, oblivious to
their calling.
There are tools on the anvil:
melted down, molten hot, moldable, changeable.
They lie on the anvil, being shaped by their master, accepting their
calling.
There are tools of usefulness:
sharpened, primed, defined, mobile.
They lie ready in the blacksmith’s tool chest, available to their
master, fulfilling their calling.
Some people lie useless:
lives broken, talents wasting, fires quenched, dreams dashed.
They are tossed in with the scrap iron, in desperate need of repair,
with no notion of purpose.
Others lie on the anvil:
hearts open, hungry to change, wounds healing, visions clearing.
They welcome the painful pounding of the blacksmith’s hammer, longing
to be rebuilt, begging to be called.
Others lie in their Master’s hands:
well tuned, uncompromising, polished, productive.
They respond to their Master’s forearm, demanding nothing,
surrendering all.
We are all somewhere in the blacksmith’s shop. We are either on the
scrap pile, in the Master’s hands on the anvil, or in the tool chest.
(Some of us have been in all three.)
From the shelves to the workbench, from the water to the fire…I’m
sure that somewhere you will see yourself.
Paul spoke of becoming “an instrument for noble purposes.” And
what a becoming it is! The rubbish pile of broken tools, the anvil of
recasting, the hands of the Master- it’s a simultaneously joyful and
painful voyage.
And for you who make the journey—who leave the heap and enter the
fire, dare to be pounded on God’s anvil, and doggedly seek to discover
your own purpose—take courage, for you await the privilege of being
called “God’s chosen instruments.”
____________________________________
From
On the Anvil: Stories On Being Shaped Into God’s Image
Copyright (Tyndale House, 1985, 2008) Max Lucado
www.maxlucado.com
by Max Lucado
In the shop of a blacksmith, there are three types of tools. There are
tools on the junk pile:
outdated, broken, dull, rusty.
They sit in the cobwebbed corner, useless to their master, oblivious to
their calling.
There are tools on the anvil:
melted down, molten hot, moldable, changeable.
They lie on the anvil, being shaped by their master, accepting their
calling.
There are tools of usefulness:
sharpened, primed, defined, mobile.
They lie ready in the blacksmith’s tool chest, available to their
master, fulfilling their calling.
Some people lie useless:
lives broken, talents wasting, fires quenched, dreams dashed.
They are tossed in with the scrap iron, in desperate need of repair,
with no notion of purpose.
Others lie on the anvil:
hearts open, hungry to change, wounds healing, visions clearing.
They welcome the painful pounding of the blacksmith’s hammer, longing
to be rebuilt, begging to be called.
Others lie in their Master’s hands:
well tuned, uncompromising, polished, productive.
They respond to their Master’s forearm, demanding nothing,
surrendering all.
We are all somewhere in the blacksmith’s shop. We are either on the
scrap pile, in the Master’s hands on the anvil, or in the tool chest.
(Some of us have been in all three.)
From the shelves to the workbench, from the water to the fire…I’m
sure that somewhere you will see yourself.
Paul spoke of becoming “an instrument for noble purposes.” And
what a becoming it is! The rubbish pile of broken tools, the anvil of
recasting, the hands of the Master- it’s a simultaneously joyful and
painful voyage.
And for you who make the journey—who leave the heap and enter the
fire, dare to be pounded on God’s anvil, and doggedly seek to discover
your own purpose—take courage, for you await the privilege of being
called “God’s chosen instruments.”
____________________________________
From
On the Anvil: Stories On Being Shaped Into God’s Image
Copyright (Tyndale House, 1985, 2008) Max Lucado
www.maxlucado.com