Oh Holy Ab...and Your Friend Too

Exodus 31: 1-11

So God tells Moses- I picked these two guys- Bezalel and Oholiab and I've blessed them with some talent which should help with all this construction I've been talking about.

He tells Moses, "I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- 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 craftsmanship..." Oholiab has been appointed to help him. So the focus is really more on Bezalel than Oholiab- but it's harder to make a corny pun out of his name.

This is really interesting to me (the passage, not the pun). Bezalel is gifted with ability for handiwork with metals- and his skill comes from being filled with the Spirit of God. I'd be inclined to think that these were two very special instances except for what comes next:

Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent- the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand- and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place.

So- all this ability to create beauty- comes from being filled with the Spirit. Did they just wake up able to carve and create- or were they simply predisposed to excel in these endeavors after being trained? Did they resist it?

But dad... I really like math- I don't care about the arts.

Get your heads out of the clouds, kid, there's no future in science...but if you'd just apply yourself to the arts...

An army of Spirit-filled artists. That would make quite a forensics team. But all kidding aside, maybe that's what I have. And have had. Every year. People with a talent for creating beauty and poignancy in a world sometimes lacking in both. People who search for outlets to share and develop talents that began by being filled with the Spirit... often (always?) unknowingly.

The end result for me is to think of our talents, our inclinations, and our fortes not just as gifts from God (which is huge by itself... so my skills at track and the xylophone both come from God?) but as tools commissioned by God for His service.

What am I good at? Am I good at it because God filled me with His spirit and wants me to use it to praise Him? When I view my interests, my hobbies, and my leanings to things of an artisitc nature as service to God it changes not only my interest in producing art of quality but also the fervor and intensity with which I create and share that art.