Amidst all of the gifts at my soon-to-be wife and I’s wedding shower was a gift tagged specifically for me. And what was inside? A “Honey-Do Kit” consisting of a tool tray loaded with the following items: (1) a hammer, (2) assorted screwdrivers, (3) a tape measure, (4) a flashlight, (5) a pair of work gloves, (6) a box of screws and nails, (7) some picture hanging wire, (8) a roll of electrician’s tape, and, (9) of course, duct tape.
I must say that Honey-Do kit was one of the most practical gifts I’ve ever received. The items not only had been picked with care from the many tools that could have made up that kit, but were selected by someone with enough experience to know what I really did, and did not, need not only at that point in my life, but for the rest of my life. Thirty years later, I still make use of all of those same sort of tools; even that very same hammer and set of screwdrivers. Thirty decades plus of use have only made them all the more meaningful to me.
Now I’m curious: what tools were handed to you when you became a Christian? That is, in your first few months of life in Christ, what thoughts were deliberately, repeatedly put in your head by your brothers and sisters in Christ as to how to build your spiritual house? Were those tools selected and suggested with the care comes from deep Christian discernment and personal experience? Did their selection demonstrate careful, Christian wisdom? Have they proved to be the tools you’ve needed most, given all you’ve encountered in life? Do you still make use of them or have they long since been laid aside?
