A Vessel for Noble Purposes

"In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work."
II Timothy 2:20-21

On Sunday morning we talked about Paul's words to Timothy (verses 14-26) where he urged young Timothy to be a vessel with a noble purpose. But today I want to talk specifically about verses 20-21.

Father God, the Potter, sees us as vessels for a noble purpose. We are new creations according to II Corinthians 5:17. The problem comes when we don't see ourselves that way.

Our brokenness is not a challenge for God. He took care of that on the cross by the death of Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter what "kind" of brokenness we have--childhood abuse, sexual sin, addictions, or simply the brokenness of being born with a sinful nature--God has made provision for a remedy.

Some of us see ourselves as "more broken" than others. Our sin is too bad. Our past is too painful. Our habits are too difficult. That kind of thinking keeps us stuck and leads to an undesirable outcome.

We have an upside down view of being a noble vessel, I think. We put the cart before the horse. We intellectually know, because we've read the Bible, that we don't have to "clean up" to come to God. But some of us act like we do. Yes, we've asked Jesus into our hearts and have become a Christian, but we don't fully commit ourselves to being that noble vessel because we see ourselves as an ignoble (un-noble) vessel.

As long as we see ourselves that way, we will have one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom as it were. We may feel like a phony if we live like a noble vessel, because inside we don't feel noble. We have a past. We still see ourselves as broken.

Folks, we need to see ourselves as the beautiful vessels that God created for His purposes. We need to ask God to let us see through His eyes. Then, when we have consecrated ourselves we can live like people set apart and, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can live the life we have committed to live.

Thoughts? Write a comment!