Finishing Touches

Thought For The Week 196 By Val Warsop

I have long resigned myself to being called ‘fussy’, but I was a bit startled when the lady who runs my craft class gave me a friendly twinkle one day, and labelled me ‘pedantic’!  Who, me?  Want to know what it means? Excessively concerned with minor details; over-scrupulous! Hmmm!  I admit to being a ‘tweaker’; whether it’s designing a card, creating a PowerPoint presentation, writing a thought for the week, I do have to ’tweak it’ until I’m happy it’s as good as I can make it!

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, wrote, “I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of (Messiah Yahshua) [the time of His return].” [1:6 Amplified Bible]. I love the thought of Yahweh continuing to perfect and complete His work in me.  ‘Tweaking’ me until I become the best that I can be!  Bishop Handley Moule, a righteous theologian of the 20th century, says that the Greek here means ‘will evermore put His finishing touches to it’.  How delightful is that!  When we think of the delicate beauty of butterfly wings, or the amazing design of creatures deep in the ocean, how can we not be awed that He deigns to ‘evermore put finishing touches’ to us?

These finishing touches come from His Hand in the outworking of our daily lives.  The joys and blessings are the best, of course!  Sometimes, however, life can be so hard, sometimes it hurts beyond understanding; then there are the disappointments, or difficult changes, or the endless cycle of ordinary days; there are pressures, stresses, hardships.  Do you ever look at your spiritual growth and wonder if Yahweh is doing anything in or with your life?  It would be surprising if you did not!  The ‘finishing touches’ will come in all those small things which scarcely seem to matter, and we will find it is Yahweh effectively at work in us, creating the longing to please Him, and giving the ability to fulfil His will. [see Philippians 2:13]. He began this work in us and is actively committed to a perfect completion.

Photo by JamesDeMers
https://pixabay.com/en/butterfly-swallowtail-papilio-144053/

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