Choosing the Right Tool
By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.
03/29/2022
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)
When I was in high school, I worked at my uncle’s Schwinn bicycle shop. Each day, after school, I would head over to the shop, take my place at one of the bike-stands in the back, and begin working on the tasks my uncle had laid out for me. Usually this meant assembling new bicycles for the showroom floor or doing simple on-the-spot repairs like replacing inner tubes in flat tires. As I got more experienced, my uncle gave me more complicated repairs and allowed me to assemble more expensive new bikes.
Uncle Harry was a no-nonsense manager. He treated me the same way he treated the full-time, adult bicycle mechanics in his shop. There were several rules that were non-negotiable, but none more so than his insistence that we use the right tool for the right task. I remember the first day I worked at the shop. He asked me to change a flat tire. I reached for a flathead screwdriver and started to pry the tire from the rim. I can still hear the gasps from the other, more experienced mechanics, as they waited breathlessly for Harry’s reaction. And I can still hear Uncle Harry’s words as he looked over at me and said, slowly and sternly, “What do you think you are doing?!”
It turns out, there is a special tool for removing tires from rims called a “tire tool.” Over time I learned that there were designated tools for almost every task. Each had a unique purpose. There was a spoke wrench, a cable tightener, a crank shaft puller, brake pad holders, etc. (I hope Uncle Harry does not read this devotional because I am certain that each tool also has a special name, and I am quite confident that after forty years, the correct name for each tool has escaped my memory.)
To this day, I still follow Harry’s rule that we should always use the right tool for the right task. I call it “Harry’s Dictum.” I do not use a crescent wrench as a hammer. I do not use a Phillips head screwdriver as a hole punch. And I never, ever tighten a nut with a pair of pliers! Using the right tool is crucial for accuracy and efficiency.
Similarly, when it comes to the Christian life, we must choose the right tool for spiritual growth. God has given us a special resource to help us as we become more mature in our faith. He has given us the Holy Spirit who permanently indwells us the moment we believe the Gospel. Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). That “Helper” is the Holy Spirit.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he reminds us that we were not saved by our own strength, and we can never grow mature by our own efforts. “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh” (Galatians 3:3)? We will never grow spiritually mature by adhering to some external, legalistic standard of behavior. Only when we heed the Spirit’s convicting work in our life, through the Word of God, will we grow strong and mature as Christians.
As you navigate life day by day, make sure you are reaching for the right tool from your spiritual toolbox. It is not about trying harder or doing more. It is about living out the new life you have inside you through Christ. “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).
03/29/2022
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)
When I was in high school, I worked at my uncle’s Schwinn bicycle shop. Each day, after school, I would head over to the shop, take my place at one of the bike-stands in the back, and begin working on the tasks my uncle had laid out for me. Usually this meant assembling new bicycles for the showroom floor or doing simple on-the-spot repairs like replacing inner tubes in flat tires. As I got more experienced, my uncle gave me more complicated repairs and allowed me to assemble more expensive new bikes.
Uncle Harry was a no-nonsense manager. He treated me the same way he treated the full-time, adult bicycle mechanics in his shop. There were several rules that were non-negotiable, but none more so than his insistence that we use the right tool for the right task. I remember the first day I worked at the shop. He asked me to change a flat tire. I reached for a flathead screwdriver and started to pry the tire from the rim. I can still hear the gasps from the other, more experienced mechanics, as they waited breathlessly for Harry’s reaction. And I can still hear Uncle Harry’s words as he looked over at me and said, slowly and sternly, “What do you think you are doing?!”
It turns out, there is a special tool for removing tires from rims called a “tire tool.” Over time I learned that there were designated tools for almost every task. Each had a unique purpose. There was a spoke wrench, a cable tightener, a crank shaft puller, brake pad holders, etc. (I hope Uncle Harry does not read this devotional because I am certain that each tool also has a special name, and I am quite confident that after forty years, the correct name for each tool has escaped my memory.)
To this day, I still follow Harry’s rule that we should always use the right tool for the right task. I call it “Harry’s Dictum.” I do not use a crescent wrench as a hammer. I do not use a Phillips head screwdriver as a hole punch. And I never, ever tighten a nut with a pair of pliers! Using the right tool is crucial for accuracy and efficiency.
Similarly, when it comes to the Christian life, we must choose the right tool for spiritual growth. God has given us a special resource to help us as we become more mature in our faith. He has given us the Holy Spirit who permanently indwells us the moment we believe the Gospel. Jesus said, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). That “Helper” is the Holy Spirit.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he reminds us that we were not saved by our own strength, and we can never grow mature by our own efforts. “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh” (Galatians 3:3)? We will never grow spiritually mature by adhering to some external, legalistic standard of behavior. Only when we heed the Spirit’s convicting work in our life, through the Word of God, will we grow strong and mature as Christians.
As you navigate life day by day, make sure you are reaching for the right tool from your spiritual toolbox. It is not about trying harder or doing more. It is about living out the new life you have inside you through Christ. “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).
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