Eric Malmsten sent in this wonderful devotional that helps us see just how important we are to God.
I was taking a walk with my two little ones and I had this thought that the process of building a model could be a type of reflection of our Christian walk. Before that kit ever gets to the LHS or the online store it has to be thought of, planned, manufactured, packaged and then shipped there. Then you have to choose it from all the other offerings available at the time of purchase, and then it has to make it to the workbench or be sent to the stash to be built later. There is a definite process to building a model, and a lot of it we just do not see.
Please indulge me with this request; put yourself in the place of the model – but you get to think and feel while you experience the process of being put together.
The first step in our building is the planning, and Jeremiah covers that when the Lord says “I knew you before I formed you in the womb.” And “I know the plans that I have for you…” no, brothers and sisters we are not accidents but rather deliberately planned creations of the Living God. Like any model kit on the shelves of the LHS that was intentionally created by its designers so are we intentionally created by God.
The manufacturing, packaging and shipping portion of our building process is pretty normal, pretty everyday…..or is it? If we think about the birth process from conception it is truly amazing. Out of all of the millions of sperm cells and egg cells that our parents carried the two that made you came together, again the planning portion comes into play, but if there truly is a plan it always will come into play.
The Psalmist wrote “I am fearfully and wonderfully made, wonderful are Thy works O Lord and my soul knows it very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in your book all my days were already written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed,” Psalm 139:13 – 16. And in Exodus 4:11 God said, “Who gives a person a mouth? Who makes a person dumb or deaf, keen-sighted or blind? Isn’t it I, Adonai?“ With the discovery of DNA we can be even more amazed at the accuracy of what the Psalmist wrote. We are packaged in our mother’s wombs until the day of delivery, and I guess dads driving moms to the hospital counts as the shipping portion.
Now if you would just imagine, there we are sitting on the shelves of the LHS, and the Master Model Maker comes into the store and walks over to the kits. Looking carefully He sees your kit, and picks you up. He walks over to the check out, pays for you and takes you home.
This Master Craftsman now has our kit on His workbench. The cellophane (okay – I’m showing my age here, so what) is removed and the box is opened and the contents revealed, there is that scent of fresh plastic that every modeler knows. The pieces are still on the sprue and the imagination of what will be is working overtime. The opening of the box is a great part of the building experience; at least it is for me.
Our Master Modeller is into details, and He is going to detail any kit that He gets. Lets say that the kit is an Aurora Fokker D VII, it is not a bad kit and there is plenty of room for detailing – especially for our Master Modeller. Starting with the engine – it’s a basic engine, but the details are lacking. So out comes the number 11 exacto knife and off comes the molded “camshaft, and valve stems” to be replaced with the Master’s work, more detailed and realistic. He also adds spark plug wire, wire looms, and drills holes into the cylinders for the spark plugs. The plastic is cut, sanded, drilled, glued, painted, added onto and just plain altered from what it was to what the Master Modeller wants it to look like. It takes time and effort, and the plastic if it had a voice it might possibly be screaming at times when some of the work was going on. The Master Modeller is not deterred by any missing or poorly formed parts, and in fact likes to work with these kinds of kits. When He gets a kit He makes it His kit, His work will be seen and known.
Think about it like this, the world makes marks on our kits and the Master Modeller takes them off and adds His own details to our kits. He purchased us, for we are bought with a price. He loves to build us and He gets the details just the way He wants them – even if He has to work the piece for a long time.