2 Timothy 2:20-21, “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. 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.”
How does God want to use you in your role in life? “God wants to use His people for every good work, including those at the workplace, the school, in the home, in the community. This happens as one will cleanse himself and set yourself aside to God as a vessel for honor.” David Guzik, Commentary. Paul had admonished Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11, “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things (the love of money). Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.” We are to be a contrast to those that have wandered away from the faith, false teachers, and unbelievers, by the reality of God’s Word, renewing our minds (Romans 12:1-2), giving us discernment and understanding of God’s will. We are accountable to God, first and foremost to anyone else, making us “a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful” for our heavenly father.
We all have weaknesses as well as strengths. Our flaws are not fatal but essential in perfecting us as clay pots and vessels intended to be used through God’s transforming power. As Paul confessed in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
So as I handle challenges and disappointments in various areas of life, I have two choices. I can keep pleasing God as my primary focus and seek to be used as His “vessel” like a gold platter, displaying the fruits of the Spirit, which are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23), or be a garbage can. David Guzik calls it being a gold platter in the house of God or being an ashtray or a garbage can in God’s house – a vessel for honor or dishonor. A garbage can must be periodically cleaned to serve its needed and functioning purpose.
Lisa Terkeurst said in her book, It’s Not Supposed to be This Way: “There’s someone else in the world who would drown in their own tears if not seeing yours . . . Your whys have made you wise . . . Ask yourself, Am I willing to believe He is protecting me and preparing me for all that is ahead?” Handling disappointments and putting a bow on one’s words in the midst of it is challenging. We must keep moving forward as a gold and silver platter rather than a garbage can. Ephesians 4:29 admonishes us to keep building others up, as fits the occasion, and to give grace where needed.
Our conduct is always on display. We can choose to act holy or unholy – to act with love or not to respond with love. To maintain self-control and have gentleness engaged or not. To please God or not to please Him. When we are obedient to God, He will then be able to use us to touch others’ lives. My question to myself is, how can I better become an approved vessel for honorable use to better bless others I encounter today? I want to be like a gold platter, displaying the fruits of the Spirit, rather than a garbage can.
The Message states 2 Timothy 2:20-21 this way, “In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets – some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.”
Listen to Casting Crowns – Nobody (Official Music Video) ft. Matthew West. July 2019.