Christianity Done Right is Well Done

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.(NAS) 2 Timothy 2:15

I was putting up some shelves for my wife the other day and this verse came to me while I worked. I was thinking about how to make everything sturdy so the shelf would work for her, and I was thinking about workmanship. That is something some times missing today. My father-in-law is an electrician and he is always scolding his crew reminding them of the importance of workmanship. He makes them turn all the screws on the outlet and light covers so they face the same direction. Workmanship reflects the pride and professionalism of the worker. Workmanship is the reflection of the attitude of the worker.

If a worker does his or her job well then their work will stand the test. Something would be placed on the shelves I installed and unfortunately they failed the test. The supports were too close together near the center of the shelf. When something is placed on the end of the shelf the shelf support turns into a fulcrum launching anything placed on the opposite side of the shelf. I did not take that into account and I was mildly ashamed. My work failed the test of usefulness. My work has to be redone.

We have to be more diligent in our relationship with God than any workman. We need to take care and make sure we are correctly handling the Word. "Rightly dividing it", this is one word in the Greek, "ORTHOTOMEO". It is a word from the carpenter's shop. It means cut right. My father used to tell me "measure twice cut once". If you are building something and one of the boards comes up short you need to get another board.

Spiritually we have to be careful that we get things right. We should not be haphazard. We should not have the attitude, "that is good enough" when it is not good at all. We should not be gullible and fall for any foolish idea that presents itself. We need the attitude of a professional craftsman who does the little extra thing to get something exactly right.