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Key Bible Verse: For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him (Philippians 2:13). Bonus Reading: Philippians 1:3—6

We needed a kitchen table but were low on money. My wife suggested I build one. I'd never built anything, but I was between college and grad school and had the time. It took me all of February to build the table. In March, I sanded it down. I spent a week massaging five coats of tung oil into the wood. It takes time to get the finish right; if you hurry, the flaws will show.

A friend came for dinner and asked where I'd bought my table. His table, he told us, was forever falling apart. He lamented the shoddy nature of today's craftsmanship. People slap things together in five minutes expecting them to last a lifetime.

We got to talking about how that isn't only true about furniture; it's true about life. Folks get discouraged because God doesn't make them saints overnight. They don't understand all the years of God-work that go into making one's life a thing of beauty—a lot of shaping, finishing. And if we rush the process, the flaws will surely show.

Once a week I rub a coat of lemon oil into my table. It reminds me that my table is never really finished. Kind of like me.

—Philip Gulley in Front Porch Tales

Adapted from Front Porch Tales (Multnomah, 1997) by permission.

My Response: I'll thank God for patiently shaping and polishing in my life.

Thought to Apply: Full-grown oaks are not produced in three years; neither are servants of God. —Douglas Rumford (speaker)

Prayer for the Week

Lord, I want to keep growing as Your child. Push me to do whatever it takes to become stronger and more mature.

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