Hey, podcasters, a good morning to you all. Have you been working at the same job for quite some time and would love to land that new promotion? You've got your foot in the door but can't quite figure out how to get noticed. Well, in today's podcast, not me, not me so much, but wise King Solomon is going to give us the key to landing that future promotion, to rising to the top of the stack. It's called skill. You are listening to the All of Life podcast, where Christ is king over the nitty gritty of everyday life. I'm Brandon Neely. This is a part of my teaching ministry at Christ Church of Acadiana in Southwest Louisiana. Our proverb for the day is Proverbs 22, 29. Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before obscure men. Skill is an ability given by God, and it is the ability to effectively apply knowledge to the performance of a task. Skillful men and skillful women are not talkers, they're doers. They accomplish the task. Skill is the possession of competency. Skill is that quality, that possession that Wise Solomon tells us is the key to promotion. Do you see a skillful man in his work? He will stand before kings, promoted to the highest place of honor in the land. I think of, when I think of skillful men, I think of David, who upon meeting Saul for the very first time, impressed Saul. Saul was so impressed, Saul admired him so much that he made David his personal armor bearer the very first time he met him. I think of Bezaliel in the book of Exodus, a man of competency, a craftsman. It is the Lord who blessed Bezaliel's labors and his diligence and his skill with even more skill. He was elevated and promoted to the position of senior craftsman over the construction of the tabernacle. And there's Joseph, who being faithful in his calling, was promoted to the right hand of Pharaoh. The Bible is filled with faithful men and women living out their callings with diligence, perseverance, and competency, and being blessed by the Lord for promotion. Moses was raised up to one of the most powerful men in all of Egypt because of his skill and his competency. Well, this is not always and universally the case. This is a proverb, and it's proverbially true. It's generally true. And generally, if you are skilled and you honed your crafts, you will be noticed. You will be promoted above the rest. It was Jeroboam's industriousness that got him noticed with Solomon in 1 Kings 11. You see, it's the resume that might get you in the door, it's your connections that might get your foot in there, but it's the steady and growing competency that will get you noticed and promoted over time. In contrast, even with the position, even with the title, even if you've nestled yourself down in a cozy little position, laziness, a refusal to grow in your capacities and competency, a failure to gain the proper certifications or read the right books or study the right required field, the failure to apply yourself with diligence, or a distracted temperament that's busy doing all manner of things except the one thing you're supposed to be doing, this sort of behavior will get you marginalized, cornered, and eventually set free, so to speak. Skill, like everything in this life, is a gift from God, but it's a gift given to those already proving themselves worthy of the gift. You want to be promoted? The key is skill. You want skill? The key is being faithful with the little bit of skill that you already have. He who is faithful with a little skill can expect more. He who has, to him it shall be given. And it is God who gives us life and breath and everything else. And it is God who gives us our skills and our competencies. And if we are faithfully maximizing everything that he has given us, he will come alongside of us and bless us and equip us to do even more. You know, I recently wrapped up a book entitled The Victory of Reason. It's an excellent read about the history of Christianity in the so-called Dark Ages. Well, that's a myth, of course, but in it, in this book, the reader learns of all the many advancements, all the many advancements with technology and science and agriculture that came in the so-called Dark Ages under a Christian innovation. Just as an example, The pagan Romans, for example, had no iron horseshoes. Their roads were narrow and designed simply for foot soldiers to march up and down and to collect taxes from town to town. but Christians developed trade and wagons, serving their neighbors as opposed to imperialistically collecting taxes from them. The Romans had no horse collars and so plowed slowly with oxen, no windmills, no spinning jennies, no printing presses. But with Christianity and skilled Christians using the skills that God gave them, soon, soon came the three-field crop method, the horse collar for faster and stronger plowing and wagons and wider roads and private property and freedom. In Italy, there were banks being formed. In the north, windmills were clearing out the sea, fish farming was developed, and new shipbuilding methods could take goods to far reaches of the world. All of these innovations made trade more and more possible. Europe, under the care of Christ, was being fed and clothed and educated better than any civilization in the history of the world. Now, historians often grapple for a reason. They lay it to geography or they lay it to other economic factors, but the ultimate reason is that the mindset and the worldview revealed in Scripture and shaped by the Spirit of God is a blessing from Christ and will bless any man, any family, any community, any nation if they continue in it. Soon in Christendom, in medieval Christian Europe, soon within the lands of Christendom came chimneys. This is one of my favorite innovations. Poor pagan Roman emperors, I mean the emperors themselves, they crowded around fires in smoke-filled freezing rooms like homeless men around a trash barrel. But it was Christians who developed window panes and chimneys and developed coal as a suitable replacement for wood. It burned hotter and more efficiently. This led to the iron industry and railroad ties, and then the steam engine. The innovations continued on and on. And then there was eyeglasses, perhaps my favorite of all. which enabled men like myself, even into their 40s, to continue their trade when they couldn't see without a little bit of help. God's been good to us over the years, and all of this grace has come through men and women exercising the skills and the competency that they have. Christian, what has God given you to do? What's your calling? What are your skills, abilities, your marketable trades, your passions? What is it that He's given you? It's time to join the march of progress, Christian progress. It's time to buckle down and get to work. Do you serve? Then serve unto the Lord. Do you provide products, whether in manufacturing, management, or sales? Then provide it as unto the Lord. If you're a leader, lead like Moses and Nehemiah. If you're a craftsman, be a craftsman filled with the Spirit like Bezalel. If a teacher, like Ezra. And if a warrior, like David. So this Monday morning, consider a moment, this work that you have before you. Today's work. Thank God that you have work. Thank God that you have a means to provide, by the grace of God, your daily bread. Thank God that He's given it to you. And thank God for the skill that you have to be able to accomplish it. and let's ask him to help us sharpen and hone those skills even more. Don't just put in time, rather orient your entire day towards God and the service of others. Your family, your church, and your town needs you, and Christ has called you. This has been another episode of the All of Life podcast. I'm Brandon Neely, and if you'd like more resources from my teaching ministry, check out the ever-growing archives over at sermonaudio.com. You can search We Are Christ Church, or you can search Brandon Neely, that's N-E-A-L-Y, and you'll find all sorts of stuff out there. And remember, if Christ has called you, he'll equip you, he'll protect you, and he'll bless you along the way. Have a great day. Yeah.