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Key Bible Verse: I used to wander off until you disciplined me … you disciplined me because I needed it (Psalm 119:67, 75). Bonus Reading: Ps. 119:67-68, 71-77

At the outset of our faith journey, we resemble rough-cut lumber more than any finished product. We've got plenty of jagged edges where others pick up splinters as they come in contact with us. Abrasiveness in our words rubs people the wrong way. Sharp corners in our attitudes unintentionally slice open wounds in others.

Then the Master Carpenter begins to work on us. First he cuts away the dead wood of self-reliance and trims away the splinters of self-righteousness. Then he uses his planer, gradually shaving off roughness of the surface of our lives rendered uneven by patches of bitterness or unforgiveness.

Next, it's on to the sanding station. You can't be all you want to be without having attitudes rotted by sin sanded down. God uses the grit of difficult circumstances and discouraging moments to smooth your life. A disappointing performance review at work, an illness, a fender-bender in the car can all feel like so much sandpaper.

You needn't worry though; the hand of the Carpenter is loving. He knows just when to stop sanding and begin applying the finish coats for a beautiful result.

—Hugh Poland in The Master Carpenter

My Response: In shaping my life, I sense that the Master Carpenter is at the _____ phase.

Thought to Apply: I owe more to the hammer and the file than to anything else in my Lord's workshop. —Charles Spurgeon (English preacher)

Adapted from The Master Carpenter (Judson, 2008) by permission.

Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Thank you, Lord, for receiving me just as I was. But thank you, also, for your insistence on reshaping me for maximum usefulness in your kingdom.

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