Hand me that Screwdriver, Please

I've been one of those "fix-it" guys all my life. My Dad taught me all kinds of things, so I know a little bit about enough things to make me dangerous.

When I was young, we built giant kites, go carts, fixed light switches and plumbing pipes, etc. I loved trying to figure a problem out and then fixing it (unlike my brother, who couldn't be bothered to pull his nose out of his current science fiction book to care. NEVER ask him to fix anything! lol).

However, I must admit, that when it comes to fixing things, I might be just a little bit lazy. I mean, when I'm working on a particular thing, but don't have the right tool at hand, I'm more likely to make do with some tool not designed for the task, than to go get the one I SHOULD use. As you might know, this is not good, because the old adage is: "The right tool for the right task." Uh, sure. But whoever said that wasn't as creative as I am! {do I hear a Tim the Toolman Taylor's "arr, arr, arr?"}

So I can't tell you how many times I've used a screwdriver as a hammer (my screwdriver handle proves it). Or a screwdriver as a pair of pliers (it CAN be done!). Actually, I can use a screwdriver for just about ANY task. Of course, I also can't tell you how many new screwdrivers I have had to buy because of my "creativity!"

Truth be told, I DO realize how important it is to use the right tool for the task at hand (maybe I learned the hard way, but I DID learn). All you get when you use a tool for the wrong task is a broken tool (well, maybe a serious cut on your hand as well). I'm sure my readers are quite bright, so I know you get it-

How foolish it is to use a tool for anything other than what it was created for.

Vicky Beeching sings these words to God:

We were created to worship Your Name . . .
Worshiping other things destroys our liberty.

As I was listening to these words yesterday while headed to church, it dawned on me how foolish it is to not use our lives to do what we were created for. And yet, how many broken lives do we come across all because this is exactly what we try to do? Just like I break my screwdrivers by using them for something other than what they were created for, we break our lives when we don't regularly praise and worship God.

If we use our lives for the purpose we were created, we are freed from the brokenness we try so hard to deal with in our own way. Some use drugs, intoxicants, sex, food, etc, but these things NEVER fulfill us nor fix what is broken within. It takes using ourselves for the purpose our creator made us for in the first place.

But as we praise You we are freed . . .
This is what we were meant to do.

Now I only buy the best screwdrivers- Craftsman. Their guarantee is that if you manage to break one of their tools, Sears will replace the old broken one for a brand spankin' new one (Sears and I have this relationship kinda like a fat guy and a Chinese buffet).

Here's the cool part of this post- God has an even better guarantee than Sears! When we realize our lives are beyond our own repair, all we have to do is bring them in repentance to Jesus. He is the Master Craftsman who will instantly give us a new one for the old one- no questions asked.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come! - 2 Corinthians 5:17

And God never pretends he's closed like Sears when they see me coming. I like that! Arr, arr arr!