As anyone who works in a garden knows, it is very difficult to keep things well maintained without some good tools. When you’re facing a big job, you want and need good tools. There are so many options available today, and it seems like they literally have a gadget or tool for every job that you can possibly imagine. However, the idea is not to fill your shed or garage with unnecessary and trendy tools but to have on hand a few well-made, strategic tools that allow you to work smarter—not harder.
One of the tools that we rely on the most is the common garden hoe. This simple, under-rated stick and blade can sure save your back. Early writings and cave drawings indicate that farmers had a tool that resembled a long, forked stick that might have been used much like our modern day hoe for creating furrows, digging weeds and chopping plants.
Over the centuries, hoe blades have been made from a variety of things including animal antlers and bones and even shells. It’s fascinating to imagine what the lives of these early farmers must have been like and how they came up with their primitive tools. They knew that they had a task to complete, and they were creative and determined. Thus, tools came about. As time progressed, people made improvements on the hoe blade and began constructing it from stone, copper, bronze and eventually out of iron and steel.
This very simple, flat-bladed tool that is attached to a long wooden handle was once considered a luxury item. But, today, it can be found in practically every tool shed across the country. It is arguably one of the most popular garden tools for weeding and loosening soil, and it has certainly had a positive impact on the modern day farmers’ quality of life.
Tools are simply devices or implements that are used to carry out a particular function, and they make our lives easier and better. The key is finding the right tool for the job!
As followers of Christ, we’re facing a big job. Taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth, loving our neighbors as ourselves, embracing the brokenness that surrounds us—these are all tasks that we need certain, strategic tools in order to accomplish. The tools we need can’t be found in the garage or shed, but thanks to our Heavenly Father, they were provided to us in His Word.
Eph. 6:12-17 reminds us that, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” That same chapter goes on to tell us that we should, “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”
The right tool for our job is the armor of God, particularly the Word of God. What a privileged generation we are to get to live during this time! How exciting it is to see the Bible come to life before our very eyes!
Just as in Esther 4:14 Mordecai sent word to Esther, “And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” we’re forced to ask ourselves, “Did God place me right where I am, at this point in history, for such a time as this?”
Whatever God has called you to do, do it NOW! No one can do the job that God has equipped and called you to do better than you. Pick up your tools! Strap on the armor, take God’s Word and go complete the task.