We preachers are hardly ever without a job.

Monday 10-10-2016  Martínez, Argentina

Today we read: Neh 3 – 4     Luke 23

S.  Neh 3:6-8 The Old City Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid the beams, set up the doors, and installed the bolts and bars. Next to them were Melatiah from Gibeon, Jadon from Meronoth, and people from Gibeon and Mizpah, the headquarters of the governor of the province west of the Euphrates River. Next was Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a goldsmith by trade, who also worked on the wall. Beyond him was Hananiah, a manufacturer of perfumes. NLT

O.  The walls of Jerusalem were being rebuilt and every man volunteered to help.  Here is Brother Uzziel, an expert goldsmith by trade and over there Brother Hahaniah, a manufacture of perfumes. They are toting heavy, cut stones and mud mortar and setting them into place.

A.  I was digging the hole for the septic tank for the new church building in Merlo. A little 10 year-old boy, Gabriel, was pulling up the buckets of dirt with a rope and dumping them… and then there was a neighbor man, too.  He had come over to stand by and complain to me that he was out of work. He couldn’t get anybody to hire him. “I am a truck driver,” he bragged. “I have a special license. I can drive a truck.”  I didn’t tell him that I, too, had been a truck driver for several years. I knew how to drive a truck… but I also knew how to dig a hole. 

P.  Lord Jesus, being a preacher is so much fun. It is full of variety. You get to sing, preach, lead worship, carry bricks for an expert brick layer, hang a door, and… oh yes… and dig a hole. Truth be told, I never got really good at hole digging. We preachers hardly ever have to stand around complaining that we have no work. Thank you, Jesus!  Amen.

Ralph