Don't give tools the credit!

Imagine this scenario...
            A masterful carpenter is putting the final touches on an intricately carved piece of furniture.  Just by            viewing the furniture you can tell how much work and skill went into its creating.  Then, a passerby comes along and sees this piece of furniture.  The admirer looks at all the fine detail and all the hard work.  Then the passerby tells the carpenter "Man! Those tools did an amazing job making this furniture".

During Sunday school, this picture rolled though my mind like a movie.  Sometimes that is how God speaks to me, so I thought He might want me to share this.  So here we go.

What is wrong with this picture?  I am sure that you have already discerned that the problem is that we never give the tools the credit for making anything magnificent.  Picasso didn't give his paintbrushes credit, nor did Van Gogh, but rather when people viewed what these men had created, those admirers probably said what beautiful work the artist had done.

Why is it then that when we do exactly what we have been told to do by God, we want to take credit?  We are to go forth into every nation and tell them of the news of Jesus' love, life and sacrifice for them.  Sometimes when people are only an introduction for someone to God, they want to say "I brought them to salvation".  No you didn't.  Only the Holy Spirit can convict someone.  No words we say, no matter how eloquent, no actions we take, no matter how righteous or forceful can make anyone accept Christ's gift.

So don't give tools the credit for a plan laid out so masterfully by the Creator.  Just be glad that you are able to be used in creating such a beautiful thing as a new life in Christ.