By Van Yandell
Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatsoever thy hands find to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave.”
Dan and I were friends for many years. If he had a problem with a plumbing or electrical system, he called me and if I had problems with a tractor or anything else with an internal combustion engine, I called him.
I really believe he could dissemble an engine or transmission and reassemble it blindfolded. My mechanical abilities are limited to disassembly.
Once when a tractor radiator needed soldering, I removed it, soldered the leaking seam and reassembled it into the tractor. When finished I told Margie how happy I was to only have two bolts left over.
Dan’s hands were always dirty. The grease and engine grime was ground into his hands and probably could not have been removed had he wanted. Over the years, the grimy hands became the norm for him and a way of life.
I always saw beyond the hands. The years of work and late nights of working to repair a tractor so a farmer could be back in the field the next morning, spoke volumes.
It was nothing uncommon for Dan to spend 24 straight hours, or longer, to repair a diesel engine or transmission so a trucker could soon be back on the road hauling the food that feeds us or the products we require for living.
The work of tradesmen all over America and the world keep our engines running, our homes in service and products moving. God’s creation is in motion and that includes the tradesmen.
We could survive without the academics and artisans, but take away the tradesmen and we starve, freeze and learn to walk. This is not to say academics are bad; tradesmen need math to do their work and communication skills are necessary for business to function. And of course, art work is helpful in the design process of many products.
The next time you see someone with years of accumulated and ground-in dirt on his hands, tell him “thank you;” don’t criticize him. Dirt is an indication of work. People doing physical work get dirty!
Jesus was a carpenter. He did not have a circular saw, drill, router or planer, but his tools were those necessary to get the job done. He may have been a stone mason. That trade was also referred to as carpenter in the first century.
Woodwork or stone mason carpenter, His hands would definitely have gotten dirty. Simon and Andrew had dirty hands in their professions as fishermen. Paul was a tentmaker and his hands would have that ground-in dirt from handling animal hides and the other necessary components for making tents.
At times pastors, evangelists and missionaries have to get their hands dirty. To get in proximity with the unchurched, many of us have worked projects that got our hands dirty. Working disasters is a primary example. Having dirty hands can be taken as literal or figuratively.
Disaster relief takes first responders into areas where tornadoes, hurricanes and floods have occurred. One cannot go into such places without getting their hands dirty.
When we think of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary, suffering, bleeding and dying for the sins of all mankind, we are faced with the scene of blood, mixed with dirt and grime all over His precious body.
Matthew 28:6 “He is not here for He is risen.” When Jesus walked out of the Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, resurrected and alive, he was dirty no more and would never be again.
Those dirty hands we see on the tradesmen of our world are to be cherished as the hands of those that keep the world moving and the rest of us in the necessities of life.
Jesus’ dirty hands are to be cherished as the ones that gave us eternity by believing in Him. People do not place importance on what another believes, but God does!
Without the hands of the truckers, farmers, mechanics, carpenters, welders, electricians and many others our lives would drastically change and we would be returned to the Stone Age in seconds.
The scriptures teach that Jesus gave His precious life for the sins of the world and without Him, our hands and souls would be forever dirty, never to be cleansed of our mortal sin. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is as filthy rags.” Many consider themselves as unworthy to ask for God’s forgiveness. They are absolutely correct. All of us are equal in that respect. None of us are good enough, but He offers us redemption by our belief.
At times, Christians must get our hands dirty. We must go into the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the knowledge of the teachings of the scriptures, our world will continue to degrade into chaos.
If the citizens of the world do not realize the difference in right and wrong as taught in the Holy Bible, our fate is certain. Be a builder of the Kingdom and get your hands dirty.
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary.
