Finishing Tips

“Finishing”

By

Shawn Craig 

² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.[1]

 If you followed this link you were surfing on the one of the few woodworking and finishing forums that I frequent.  I wanted to share why I do what I do, and some of the things I have learned along the way.
 I started woodworking when I was in 8^th grade shop class (1982).  Back then, we were not allowed to use many power tools, so I learned to work with my hands early on.   The structural integrity of my projects was solid back then, but the fit and finish left a lot to be desired.  Along the way I gathered some better tools, some better skills and more patience.  The fit and finish improved as I began to pay attention to all of the details necessary to provide a quality piece.  Now I am not saying that anything I have made to date is a high-end piece, but I am working on it!!
 While I was in college I didn’t have much time to make any pieces, but I did do some re-finishing to keep my interest.  I also met a Man who showed me what re-finishing and real finishing was all about.  That Man is Jesus Christ.  I was a typical college student trying to find my own way in the world, so I joined a frat to make some friends.  One of those friends was true and he invited me to a local church on July 2^nd weekend 1989.  The sermon was about Noah and how he walked with God even without knowing who Jesus was.  The preacher asked how much closer could we walk now that the Truth of Jesus had been revealed.  Needless to say I was converted to Christianity that night with the unwavering assurance deep in my spirit that I would never be the same again.  This was my first real “re-finishing”.  What once had been an unhappy young kid had been transformed into a joyful productive adult.  My grades in school improved and I graduated PTL in December 1991.  All this time I still dabbled in woodworking as time and money allowed.
 I learned that once you start a piece it is better to see it through to completion to avoid having too many things around the shop undone or in pieces.  God is the same with us.  He tells us that he will finish what he starts, so why shouldn’t we (Philippians 1:6).
 I also found out that just because we have finished the piece and put the finish on that we are not finished.  The finish on a piece of furniture must be finished or polished to achieve the look that the maker wants.  I have learned that this is also true in our walk with Jesus.  We get saved and all cleaned-up from our former life, and we look great to the outside looking on.  But we ourselves know that we are in progress, and it takes many years of “finishing” from the Master Jesus before we will be like he wants us to be.  Jesus is called the “finisher” in the King James translation of the Bible¹.  Until I advanced in my woodworking skills I never understood what that passage meant.  Now I do.  Jesus does the good works that we as believers often take credit for doing.  It is Jesus who polishes and rubs with abrasives and heat to makes us who we should be (Psalm 66:10).  If you are a woodworker you understand what the rubbing out process entails.  It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to refine an initially finished piece to a piano finish.  Jesus too shed his own blood, sweat and tears (Ephesians 2, Luke 2,Mark 15) for the remission of our sins.  He knows our struggles and wants us to walk with Him.
 How may I walk with God?  There are just a few easy steps:

·        Repent of our sins.  This means we admit we have done wrong and confess it to God in prayer believing that He is hearing us.
·        Believe that Jesus has died to take away our sins and ask him to come into our hearts to cleanse us from our past.
·        Believe that God as done the good work, and that he continues to do it as long as we are on this earth.
·        Read the Bible to attain practical instruction and to gain insight into who Jesus is.
Thank you for reading my testimony.  If you have prayed the prayer of salvation and would like to correspond more please contact me at lscraig@gmail.com.
God Bless as You Grow in the Lord.
Shawn Craig
[1] Hebrews 12:2 (New King James Version)
"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."' -Numbers 6:24-26 (New International Version)