The Right Way To Carry A Desk

I was in my husband’s office and glanced at his desk.
His desk does not reflect how organized he really is.
I tend to dust around things, since this is HIS desk and I might disrupt his system.

It’s hard for me because I would not choose to have piles no matter how neat they are.
I wouldn’t want him to rearrange the kitchen cabinets, so I must respect his desk.
He has a painting of the Georgia Tech Tower over his leather chair.
He received a beautiful Georgia Tech lamp as a gift.

He also has a special chair that was my gift to him on his 5oth birthday.
A Windsor chair with the Georgia Tech insignia, engraved with his name and year.
That was a very special gift to him.
It drove him crazy when he had to look at an enormous wrapped box for an entire day.
He was a little boy again!

I look at his office now and think about his office then in our early married years.
In our first year of marriage, my husband worked out of a briefcase.
There was no room in our apartment for an office, so this would have to do.
He had a filing system in that briefcase with our bills, check book, and important papers.
When I saw that briefcase come out, I knew he needed time to manage our household.

I also knew he needed a desk.
We were ready to move into our first home and that was one of my goals for the house.
Loving old things, I knew that if I looked hard enough I would eventually find a desk.
I did…in an old barn when I was looking for other country items.

I asked the owners to hold the desk for me until my husband could come back with me.
He was excited, especially at the price and we set off on our mission.
The only negative thing was the fact that we didn’t have large cars at the time.
Old things in barns are not delivered to your doorstep.

So, the naive newlyweds set off in a hatchback car in hopes that the desk would fit.
My husband calculated in his engineer brain the best way to maneuver the desk.
He flipped the seat down and the passenger seat in the front, leaving only the driver’s seat.
I looked at him, at the car, at the desk, and wondered if he wanted me to sit on the roof!

Of course not! You’ll be in back with the desk!
He must be joking!
How is 5’10” of me going to fit in a hatchback already filled with a piece of furniture?
You can lie down next to it and keep your hand on the desk to steady it!

He was absolutely serious!
Since we were only a few miles away and I was very young and agreeable…I acquiesced.
Anything you can imagine in your head is probably correct!
All people saw, as they drove by us, was a desk hanging out of a hatchback.

Until the stop sign.
My foot was going to sleep and I needed to shift position.
As I stretched out my leg, I must have frightened people waiting at the intersection.

I heard, There’s a leg in that car!
There were actually TWO!
The other one was propping up a desk drawer.

Somehow we got home and carried the desk upstairs.
My husband was so happy to have his own desk.
His own desk and the desk chair from college with the duct tape on the arms.
The briefcase was still on the floor next to the new-old desk…just in case!

I was never in any real danger since we drove home about ten miles an hour.
We had the emergency flashers on all the way.
However, it was not the right way to carry a desk.

Have them make a chest of acacia wood…then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. (Exodus 25:10, 13-16)

God had a particular way He wanted His ark to be carried.
The holy things were not to be touched but rather carried by poles on the shoulders.
God had a particular way He wanted to be worshiped and obeyed.
He still does.

We cannot come to God haphazardly, doing anything we choose, however we choose.
We must come to Him in reverence and awe and do what He says.
Right down to the most miniscule directive.

Does it really matter how the Ark of the Covenant was carried?
Yes, because God is holy.
He chose to dwell on the mercy seat, between the cherubim on the Ark.

Does it still matter how we approach a holy God?
Yes, because God is holy.
He chose to put the fullness of Himself in His Son, Jesus.

Jesus poured out His Spirit on believers.
That same Spirit now dwells in hearts that belong to Him.

There is a right way to carry a desk home.
There is a right way, spelled out in God’s Word, to worship Him.
Right down to the most miniscule directive.