Being Sanded
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
- Matthew 4:1
Happy Monday, Church! God cares about you so much. He has and will continue to go to great lengths to show you his love, and to continue building you up. I hope this Devo blesses you this morning.
I just finished building a dining table for our house. It's so cool and I'm pretty proud of it. My dad and I did it together so that's one thing that is super cool about it. My dad has been a carpenter basically since the hammer was invented and he is really talented at what he does. Me? Not so much. Still learning.
As I was finishing this table, one step seems backwards, but totally makes sense. When you're putting a polyurethane finish on a table, you need several coats so the surface will be protected. It's tedious, but necessary. Between each coat you have to sand the table. Sounds a little counter productive, right? The thing is, you have to sand it down because the poly won't stick to a super smooth surface.
You apply, let dry, sand, and re-apply over and over again. If you don't do this, your table is gonna get jacked up. The more you do this, the more protected your surface is and the better it looks. It takes patience. Then here's the crazy thing...after you put your last coat of finish on, you have to wait like 5-7 days to begin using the actual table so the finish can cure. It literally takes longer to do the polyurethane process than it does to build the table.
I gotta tell ya, it's really tempting to just slap a coat on and start using it. That's just not how it works though. You have to refine it. That takes time. It gets easier the more you do it though. You begin to appreciate the process.
Our life is no different. God is continuing to sand us down and build us up. Sand us down, and build us up. God uses temptation to build us. He doesn't want us to give into temptation, though. The more we encounter it, the better we will be at overcoming it.
See, God led Jesus out into the desert to be tempted so that he would overcome temptation. That gives me hope that I'm not a slave to temptation. That I can overcome it because I have the Holy Spirit in me, guiding me, and giving me power.
Today, as you encounter temptation in many things, stand firm. Press into the Holy Spirit. Ask Him for power and control. He's got you.
- Charlie
- Matthew 4:1
Happy Monday, Church! God cares about you so much. He has and will continue to go to great lengths to show you his love, and to continue building you up. I hope this Devo blesses you this morning.
I just finished building a dining table for our house. It's so cool and I'm pretty proud of it. My dad and I did it together so that's one thing that is super cool about it. My dad has been a carpenter basically since the hammer was invented and he is really talented at what he does. Me? Not so much. Still learning.
As I was finishing this table, one step seems backwards, but totally makes sense. When you're putting a polyurethane finish on a table, you need several coats so the surface will be protected. It's tedious, but necessary. Between each coat you have to sand the table. Sounds a little counter productive, right? The thing is, you have to sand it down because the poly won't stick to a super smooth surface.
You apply, let dry, sand, and re-apply over and over again. If you don't do this, your table is gonna get jacked up. The more you do this, the more protected your surface is and the better it looks. It takes patience. Then here's the crazy thing...after you put your last coat of finish on, you have to wait like 5-7 days to begin using the actual table so the finish can cure. It literally takes longer to do the polyurethane process than it does to build the table.
I gotta tell ya, it's really tempting to just slap a coat on and start using it. That's just not how it works though. You have to refine it. That takes time. It gets easier the more you do it though. You begin to appreciate the process.
Our life is no different. God is continuing to sand us down and build us up. Sand us down, and build us up. God uses temptation to build us. He doesn't want us to give into temptation, though. The more we encounter it, the better we will be at overcoming it.
See, God led Jesus out into the desert to be tempted so that he would overcome temptation. That gives me hope that I'm not a slave to temptation. That I can overcome it because I have the Holy Spirit in me, guiding me, and giving me power.
Today, as you encounter temptation in many things, stand firm. Press into the Holy Spirit. Ask Him for power and control. He's got you.
- Charlie
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