AMANDA MITCHELL
“Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain.” (v30)
Our God is Creator, and He is the God of design and detail. Everything He makes is meticulously planned and every detail has purpose and is not wasted. As we read these instructions given by God on how to make the tabernacle, the place where His presence would dwell, we sense the importance, value, and uniqueness this place would hold. From the material to be used, the measurements and dimensions given, the quantities required, and the colours chosen, every last detail is needed, specific and has worth.
We see this throughout scripture, as a God who creates with passion and purpose is revealed to us. In Genesis 1 and 2 we read that mankind was the pinnacle of creation, made in the image of God. Male and female, his image-bearers; each one representing God and who is like God in certain ways. This is what sets mankind apart from the rest of creation.
But what sets you apart from the rest of mankind? Psalm 139 tells us that each one is created by the God of design and detail; meticulously planned, every detail has purpose, and nothing is wasted. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14
You are set apart, intentionally created with your own unique purpose and design. You are valuable and have great importance. And God has chosen you to be a living tabernacle where the Holy Spirit dwells. (2 Cor 6:16). He has chosen you to host His presence. Draw near to Him today and celebrate His perfect design and detail in you. “Abide in me and I will abide in you.” John 15:5
Christian Fellowship Church is a Christ centred community dedicated to impacting Belfast, Ireland and the nations with the love of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission of Northern Ireland: NIC101476
Christian Fellowship Church
10 Belmont Road
Belfast
BT4 2AN
I was wondering where the Israelites so recently enslaved had got all the gold, silver, fine linen; the goatskins were easy and plentiful for these nomadic shepherd people. Egypt of course! Their neighbours, traumatised by all the signs Moses did in Egypt and wanting these people to leave their country, had pressed on the departing slaves gold, silver, fine garments. It got me thinking how God uses even the hard things we have gone through to work character and trust in us. Just like the wealth of Egypt was put to use for the worship of God in the tabernacle, so he takes our past and weaves it into his redemptive purposes…nothing wasted as Amanda says. All to display the glory of God to our world.
The items God told the Israelites to use to make the tabernacle — gold, silver, bronze, fine linen, spices, and gems — with me being a builder these are not the kind of building materials I’m used to using lol . These were high quality, top of the line, valuable items not that I don’t use top quality stuff , but hopefully you get what I mean . I reckon in this passage God was asking Israel to give Him their best, and He promised to do the same in return.
And I suppose giving God our best wasn’t just for the Israelites. God wants us to worship Him with our best as well.
Giving our best is not about how much we give or how fancy our church is. I think we sometimes focus on the size of a gift, but God cares about the heart behind it When we give God our first and our best, not our leftovers, it shows that we trust Him and value Him above all else.
Thanks Amanda, being the image of God in our worlds brings the good news our worlds need. God desires to and does dwell in us. Powerful stuff