No, there’s nothing we can possibly do to save ourselves. It is God Who graciously enters into covenant with His people (Exodus 34:10), in spite of our rebellion against Him (Exodus 33:3). It is only the mediation of Christ which prevents God from abandoning us altogether – a mediation which Moses models for us in Exodus 33:17. Or as the Reformers summarized it, we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

But once we have been saved, how should our lives reflect our gratitude to God? In today’s passage, all the people whose spirit moved them brought contributions so that the Lord’s Tabernacle could be built. They brought expensive things: objects of gold, silver and bronze and precious gems. The women who were skilled at spinning brought all kinds of yarn. And then Bezalel and Oholiab oversaw the work of many other craftsmen who did the metalsmithing, the weaving and the carpentry needed to construct the Tabernacle (Exodus 35:20-36:1).

Now, we aren’t called to do exactly the same things. It’s no longer necessary to conduct all those animal sacrifices in the way the Old Testament people did, so we don’t need to construct this sort of movable worship space. Moreover, we know that Jesus lives within all His people – all who trust in Him now make up the Temple of the Lord (I Peter 2:5).

But God has given all of us different gifts and abilities. God has entrusted each of us with a certain amount of material wealth, and He has given everyone the same 24 hours in each day. So, how can we use all of these gifts – our time, our talent, and our treasure – to show our gratitude to the One Who has saved us and blessed us and made us His own? The Reformers put the same question this way: how can we live our lives for the glory of God alone?

Exodus 35:20-29 (NASB)

20 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel departed from Moses’ presence.
21 And everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the LORD’s contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.
22 Then all whose hearts moved them, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and bracelets, all articles of gold; so did every man who presented an offering of gold to the LORD.
23 And every man, who had in his possession blue and purple and scarlet material and fine linen and goats’ hair and rams’ skins dyed red and porpoise skins, brought them.
24 Everyone who could make a contribution of silver and bronze brought the LORD’s contribution; and every man, who had in his possession acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it.
25 And all the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen.
26 And all the women whose heart stirred with a skill spun the goats’ hair.
27 And the rulers brought the onyx stones and the stones for setting for the ephod and for the breastpiece;
28 and the spice and the oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense.
29 The Israelites, all the men and women, whose heart moved them to bring material for all the work, which the LORD had commanded through Moses to be done, brought a freewill offering to the LORD.