Tools Of The Trade… Hello Hump Day Readers. A new year is upon us and I’m sharing a devotion that continues with those folks in the Christmas story, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

I grew up with a grandfather and his son, my father, who both had the tools of the trade of carpentry. There was nothing they couldn’t build, barns, homes, etc. I loved to hang around and learn, get dusted with sawdust and breathe in the beauty of new wood. Grandpa and dad both were eager to show me what I could do with a hammer and a saw—of course, they always had Band-Aids available as I could be pretty clumsy at carpentry! My husband, Al, and his older brother Adrian are also great woodworkers. We’ve done projects together. It’s a wonderful way to share with family and very fulfilling.

A writer friend once told me her grandfather actually made a Ferris-wheel in his backyard for them to play when they visited. Like my dad, her pops followed his dad’s steps into the carpentry trade. She wrote something about this that really tugged on my heart:

“To me, a man with well-used tools and calloused hands is worthy of respect and admiration, yet every Christmas, I’m reminded that not everyone saw it that way. Though Jesus’s earthly father, Joseph, stands as a pillar of strength in the Christmas story, his label as a carpenter made it hard for some to believe that Jesus could ever be worthy of their worship. After all, wouldn’t the Messiah come from a heritage with a little less sawdust?”

In our fast-paced-technology-world, few folks talk much about the carpentry trade but without it, those high-paying techies wouldn’t have a home or building for their trades! Some folks put down the trades as lesser, kind of like those words from Mark 6:3 (NLT) about Jesus, Mary and Joseph when they scoffed, saying: “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” (In fact, they were deeply offended and even refused to believe in him.)

This hurts my heart because it’s kind of a slam to my grandpa, my dad, my husband, my brother-in-law. To me, when I think of Jesus being born to a carpenter, I can’t imagine a more fitting narrative. I know what he would learn, just like I did. Jesus would learn from Joseph how to be building, crafting, and creating things for people to use in their homes. Joseph was known as an expert carpenter so what a gift to pass to his son.

I get a smile when I think of this father-son carpentry lineage, because, long before Jesus’ incarnation, Scripture tells us what he did:

The heavens are the work of His fingers (Psalm 8:3)
In the beginning, He laid the foundations of the earth (Psalm 102:25)
And WE are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)

WOW, think of it – the hands that learned to create with wood and stone alongside His father, Joseph, are the very hands that formed the universe and everything in it, including you and me and all creatures. Jesus had this all planned out before He came to earth to walk among us. He knew his earthly father would be a carpenter and His mother a peasant girl. Did it bother Him one bit that this might be a “lowly occupation” for the King of the world? No, not one bit, because Jesus was humble and came to us in the humblest way—being born in a stable and having an animal feeding trough for his bed. And He continued His ministry with a humble heart and a love so powerful it would reach out to all people living with our broken lives. Why? So He could fix our brokenness and bring us to Himself.

Next time you hear a person talk about someone who has such a “lowly job” think of Jesus and His earthly father, Joseph, and peasant mother, Mary. There was nothing ‘lowly’ about the job when they said ‘yes’ to being God’s choice as Jesus’ earthly parents. They knew their tools of the trade well and God was pleased with them in how they raised His only Son. Oh Jesus, Creator, Carpenter, King—you are our heritage worthy of worship forever, Hallelujah, AMEN.