August 13, 2023 BEING A VESSEL FOR HONOR
2 Timothy 2:20-22 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee youthful lust, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the name of the Lord from a pure heart.”
We set the course of our life; we continually make choices and decisions that determine our actions and our mindset. It is a sobering thought, but we either qualify or we disqualify ourselves for being useful to the Master. Do not misunderstand; being loved by God is not based on our works; but our being useful in His kingdom is dependent on us making ourselves useful to Him. According to the passage above, we make ourselves useful to Him be cleansing ourselves of anything about our life that is not pleasing to Him. (In the verses preceding the verses above, Paul list some of the things that we are to cleanse ourselves of.) In verse 15, we are instructed to “Be diligent to present ‘ourselves’ approved to God as a workman who does not need to ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” The message to us in this passage is clear, and it has very practical implications for us. The first point is that we must not live on auto pilot, just having the mindset that ‘I am who I am-I was born the way I am.’ As believers, we are called to grow in the faith and in the knowledge of God; believers should be in an ongoing state of change because we are to always be growing and maturing; we are in the process of being transformed from image to image. Second, we are to lay aside, or put off anything that is unlike God-could be certain thoughts, certain things we do, anger, impatience, dishonesty, laziness, a argumentative spirit, selfishness-and the such. It is good to occasionally examine ourselves and see if there are things we need to lay aside. God values a pure heart. God is for us, and He desires for us to be a vessel for honor, sanctified, prepared for every good work. The good news is that because the Holy Spirit lives in us, it is not difficult to lay aside what we need to, and it is easy to ‘pursue righteousness, faith, and love and peace.’ So, let each of us prepare ourselves to be vessels of honor to the Master, ready to be used in any way He chooses.
Colossians 3”12-13 “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”
Blessings, Buddy
2 Timothy 2:20-22 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee youthful lust, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the name of the Lord from a pure heart.”
We set the course of our life; we continually make choices and decisions that determine our actions and our mindset. It is a sobering thought, but we either qualify or we disqualify ourselves for being useful to the Master. Do not misunderstand; being loved by God is not based on our works; but our being useful in His kingdom is dependent on us making ourselves useful to Him. According to the passage above, we make ourselves useful to Him be cleansing ourselves of anything about our life that is not pleasing to Him. (In the verses preceding the verses above, Paul list some of the things that we are to cleanse ourselves of.) In verse 15, we are instructed to “Be diligent to present ‘ourselves’ approved to God as a workman who does not need to ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” The message to us in this passage is clear, and it has very practical implications for us. The first point is that we must not live on auto pilot, just having the mindset that ‘I am who I am-I was born the way I am.’ As believers, we are called to grow in the faith and in the knowledge of God; believers should be in an ongoing state of change because we are to always be growing and maturing; we are in the process of being transformed from image to image. Second, we are to lay aside, or put off anything that is unlike God-could be certain thoughts, certain things we do, anger, impatience, dishonesty, laziness, a argumentative spirit, selfishness-and the such. It is good to occasionally examine ourselves and see if there are things we need to lay aside. God values a pure heart. God is for us, and He desires for us to be a vessel for honor, sanctified, prepared for every good work. The good news is that because the Holy Spirit lives in us, it is not difficult to lay aside what we need to, and it is easy to ‘pursue righteousness, faith, and love and peace.’ So, let each of us prepare ourselves to be vessels of honor to the Master, ready to be used in any way He chooses.
Colossians 3”12-13 “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”
Blessings, Buddy
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