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The boards of the tabernacle are acacia wood overlaid with gold. We know that the acacia wood signifies the proper humanity, while the gold signifies the divine life and nature. What the recovery is most short of today is the acacia wood. We are not short of gold. Actually, we almost have too much gold, because we don’t even know where to put it. When we open our mouth, gold comes out, but there is no wood to bear it. We have meetings filled with gold, but there is no wood to uphold it. Eventually because of the lack of the proper wood, so much of the gold is wasted. So we must learn to take care of our humanity. Acacia wood signifies a humanity that stands firm, that remains strong, that can go through trials and face challenges. It is much more than just a healthy and moral life. It is a humanity that sees what God desires and operates accordingly. This kind of humanity will build up the churches.
To stand for the testimony of God, we must have a strong and firm humanity. We must be those who are firm. If we are always wavering, “Today I want to be here, tomorrow I want to be there; today I want to move, tomorrow I want to stay; today I want to do this, tomorrow I want to do that,” then there is no acacia wood. The wood itself has problems. Whether we can be used by God or not depends on the wood, which is our humanity. It is not a matter of having a lot of Christ and thus being covered with gold. It is a matter of what is within and underneath the gold. Are we a good piece of wood? If we are, then God can use us. Our humanity is very crucial in the building up of the church. Again, in the Lord’s recovery today we are not short of gold, we are short of the acacia wood. It is not the gold that stands, but the wood that stands. We already have so much Christ. We talk about Christ, we read about Christ, our lives are filled with Christ, we know Christ within and without. But there is no wood for Christ to be laid upon. There is no wood for Him to stand upon. For the building of God’s testimony, there must be the solid humanity. This is the acacia wood. Gold can never stand upon plywood. We must be the acacia wood for all the gold we have to stand upon.
