2 TIMOTHY 2:20-21.
20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.
21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:20-21 (ESV)
Our God is God of plans and purpose. He does not do anything without reason(s) for doing them. When He wants to create man He said “let us make man in our image, after our likeness ; let them have dominion over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) NKJV.
God did not just made Man without a purpose ; He charged man to become useful in his environment and for a good work. God decided to put him in charge of every thing He had made. Primarily, God made man to be like Him so that man can take full responsibility of his actions and inactions. Therefore He said to man “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fishes of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
When God decided to send His Only begotten son to The world because of their sin nature which had became irredeemable even with the numerous slaughtering of animals for its blood to be used as sin offering yet the blood of the animals are not good enough to appease for the sins of man. God now sent His son Jesus Christ to the world and according the scriptures “…For He shall save His people from their sins…” (Matthew 1:21) And when God chose to draw man to Himself , it is for the purpose of continuation of His good works on earth and for the manifestation of His good Will to mankind.
According to our reading today, there are therefore many vessels in a man’s house; some are to honour and some are for dishonour but for those ones that do not have honour on them has to under go some process to be honorable to be use for a good purpose.
Literally, what that verse 2Timothy 2:21 is telling us is that there\’s room for self improvement in our lives. Though we may look dishonored or crooked, not useable for the moment in question we are coming out of every error of our life if we are willing to let go the contermenating substances in us, have a determined correctional process to be a Precious Pearl highly in demand.
Infact if you can work on self, you can achieve whatever you set out to do. The major reason God made man after He had put the garden of Eden and everything to make the garden both comfortable and habitable for man\’s enjoyment was for man to maximize his potential. God then put man in charge and said cultivate and take care of it (Genesis 2:15). So the purpose of God for creating man is to cultivate and dress the land.
Every Child of God has the responsibility to keep and care for his vessel to function uptmal according to God\’s plans. Train up your spiritual life and enrich your physical wellbeing to be attractive and ready to do the work assigned to you as a good Christian. The striking point in the verse we just read is that in a man\’s house are vessels of both honour and of dishonour. Which vessel are you?
The good news about the vessels are they were not condemned for incompetence rather it is advised to go through some intentional reprogramming in other to measure up with quality standard and be useable.
2 Timothy 2:21 \”If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master\’s use, and prepared unto every good work\”.
To be a vessel of honour the bible says in matthew 5:48 \”Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which Is in heaven is perfect\”. Yes God knows the fallability of man and He knows that man\’s righteousness is like a filthy rag before Him yet He is demanding for perfection of man. Of course it ought to be, in every domain has their rules and principles that guides them
If you want to be a vessel of honour, the psalmist says in Psalms 1:1-2 \”Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (KJV).
Psalm 24:3-5 marshalled out the character of those who will likely be vessels of honour ; they are those. (1) Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord (2) Who shall stand in His Holy Place
(3) He who has clean hands and a pure heart, (4) who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, (5) They have not sworn deceitfully.
(6) He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
My dear brethren note that the Lord is not ready to use and dump you as men may do rather He has a reward for every good works we did for Him as was stipulated in the book of Mark 10: 28-30
\”Peter started to say to Him, Behold, we have yielded up and abandoned everything [once and for all and joined You as Your disciples, siding with Your party] and accompanied You [walking the same road that You walk].
Mark 10:29 Jesus said, Truly I tell you, there is no one who has given up and left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for My sake and for the Gospel\’s
Mark 10:30 Who will not receive a hundred times as much now in this time–houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions–and in the age to come, eternal life\”.
We have to make ourselves available for good and honourable services in all sincerity as a good working tool always ready to work on ourselves to be efficient for great work unto glory. May God Almighty meet us ready and honourable vessel for His use in Jesus name amen.
✍️Mrs Blessing I N Onugha ❤️