A Utensil for God...

When I was preparing one of our holiday meals, small though it was this year, I polished silver and got out the good china. I particularly love my china because it was my grandmother’s. Pulling it out reminds me of holidays long past, when others used these same dishes to serve me—when I didn’t have a clue about how much work went into setting a beautiful table and cooking a plethora of delicious homemade concoctions.

My guys don’t really care for the “good stuff;” they think the glasses don’t hold enough water. They don’t like how I yell and scream when they heat leftovers on the good china and cause fireworks in the microwave.

In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a utensil God can use for his purpose.

Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the master to use you for every good work.

2 Timothy 2:20-21 NIV

Once upon a time, I believed that a valuable person was one whom God made into an expensive utensil. You know, fancy. The kind of person you might rub elbows with on special occasions. My boys have provided me with a different perspective with their penchant for plain. They love the reliable glasses and dishes we use every day. Nothing fancy, but they’re clean and serviceable. They hold plenty of water and they never require the use of a fire extinguisher when microwaved.

Second Timothy doesn’t quantify the value of fancy and plain, it just says a pure utensil is one that God can use. It isn’t about how much you sparkle. Oh, I love my good china. But the thing that serves my family best is the everyday dishes. Morning, noon, and night they sustain us. As you begin your new year, would you pray about allowing God to have His way with you?

Maybe you’ve been thinking you have to be fancy or teflon coated to be useful. Maybe you think you cannot be serviceable until you become virtuous. It doesn’t really work that way. If it did, who could serve? Maybe this next year you might just notice what I suspect others already see in you - your capacity for lovingkindness. Rare is the human who did not come pre-wired for lovingkindness, seeing as how we bear the image of God and all. May you see that in yourself today!