Brick or Bricklayer!

“I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill, whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my Lord , David your father.”

2 Chronicles 2:13-14

When King Solomon was preparing to build the Temple for God, Hiram, King of Tyre sent a man named Huram-Abi to help with the construction. Huram-Abi was a trained craftsman and artist who could “execute any design given to him.” That means that he could make in gold, silver or stone a perfect representation of what the Designer had in mind. As important as his work was, Huram-Abi was not the architect of Solomon’s Temple!

Huram-Abi is not listed in the Bible with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is not mentioned with the Apostles or the Prophets. Huram-Abi is never compared to King David. Huram-Abi was a man of training and skill and that was indeed useful in accomplishing the purposes of God in the world, but nothing is said about the heart of Huram-Abi. King David was a man after God’s own heart in spite of his permanently recorded sins!

When I was small I read about King David and all the other men and women of God, but I wanted to be like Huram-Abi. I wanted to hone my skills to be used for the glory of God and execute His design perfectly! It was a wonderful goal, but it fell far short of God’s plan for my life. God can use my skills, and He does, but what God wants is my heart.

There is a big difference in using your training and talents for God and in letting God use you as a brick in the temple He is building.

Today in the Temple of God I would rather be a brick than a bricklayer!