As we entered the Woodcarver's Shop, I was overwhelmed with the quantity and variety of the wood carvings.  The most interesting ones were the wood sculptures of people.  Some were realistic...some were caricatures with exaggerated features.  On one side of the shop, woodcarvers were busy at their worktables.  In one corner an old gentleman was working away on a wood plaque.  On a table nearby there were at least two dozen carving tools of fine quality that had been honed to brightness.   On the wall back of the carver could be seen his finished work.  He had repeated the design of the "Praying Hands" several times and was working  on another similar to those hanging on the wall.  I looked closer at  the tool he was using. It was a homemade  knife about the size of a butcher knife,  except the blade was a little thicker.  He struck the back of this knife with a wood mallet.  His skilled hands moved the knife over the wood, striking it in just the right places.  Soon the details of the hands stood out.

I asked the manager at the cash register about the homemade knife.  He said, "As far as I know that's all he ever uses.  Maybe, once in a while, he will use a small wood chisel on some of the fine details.  We sell more of his work than anyone else's."  With so many sophisticated tools available,  he chose to use a  primitive tool and an unusual method. 

Most of us are like the old butcher knife...not very fancy...not much to look at...maybe even a bit battered and scarred.  But in the hands of the Master Carver...if we'll place ourselves in His hands...can come forth that which is beautiful and useful.  Romans 6:13 urges the Christian, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:  but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."  

                                                                                                                            JWB