a Peg-board and the Great Carpenter

I recently acquired a 4' x 4' peg board. It's made of masonite, I believe. And I am super exited about its potential.

My immediate thought, the moment I heard about the said peg-board, was an image of Brother and Sister Bernstein Bear organizing all their toys. If you ever read "the Bernstein Bears and the Messy Room" then you'll know what I'm talking about. But I digress.

Peg boards are most commonly used for the hanging of items. Usually in a storage-type way. They can be found in tool shops, kitchens, craft rooms. But I want to use mine differently. I'm not exactly sure how . . . but I want to paint it and make it usable art.

A project. And a crafty project at that. Pure bliss. Tomorrow's goal will be the purchasing of said paint. Maybe a lovely shade of burgundy. 

Along the same line, but just short of becoming a tangent: I've been thinking a lot recently about the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was a carpenter. My thoughts have been two fold. 

1. How awesome that Jesus was a man who worked with his hands. Unlike the plasticized images of Christ our culture likes to produce, Jesus the Carpenter had dirty hands (and dirty feet too, by the way). He probably had a fair share of splinters and slivers (are these the same thing?) and I bet He hammered His thumb. But beyond that, I'm sure He created beautiful masterpieces. Anything He repaired  turned out better than it was before. And I bet no one ever complained about the quality of His workmanship. These were tangible things He could fix and produce. Yet, for all things unseen (the spiritual realm), He was chastised and rejected in His own "home town."

2.  As the Son of God, Jesus takes what the Father has created and shapes it into something beautiful. Just as a potter molds clay, Jesus takes our hard hearts and makes them pliable for His will. He takes the broken pieces of our lives and fastens them back together--making us perfect in His sight. We are sanded down, and coated in His righteousness.

If Jesus had a peg-board, what would he hang there? What "tools" does he use to conform us into His image? There are days that I desire to experience that change, and then there are others when it seems easier to just remain my sinful self. Who needs humility and restoration when I can be selfish and stagnant? But just like Eustace's radical transformation in C.S. Lewis' "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," Jesus knows our heart. He knows what we need fixed. And as the Great Carpenter, He is going to fix it. He will not leave us worn out and used up. His business is that of building up, repairing that which is broken, and restoring Life. All we need to do is ask Him to take down those tools from His peg-board and start using them on us--trusting that His hands are steady and His skills are sure.