vessels of HONOR

 

Are you a vessel of Honor?  This is a question we all should ask ourselves, not just once but every single day.  What do I mean by being a vessel of Honor?  Well, let’s at the process of making a vessel.

 

God is the Potter, we are the clay.  We come to the Potter marred, scarred and broken.  Broken in the secular world means out of order, not working, crushed, shattered, etc.; not in right relationship with the Potter.  But being broken in the eyes of God is not necessarily negative, it is a positive characteristic that we all should desire.  In Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”   When we are in a state of spiritual brokenness, God can mold us and shape us into what He wants us to be.  So the Potter makes us over again, so that we can become a vessel of Honor unto Him. Jeremiah 18:4, “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.” 

 

Let’s look at the process of making a vessel, but look at it with your spiritual eyes:  (God is the Potter and we are the clay) 

 

1.   Get your lump of clay, which consists of fine-grained particles, that are relatively weak and porous and start squishing it.  Squish it here, there, everywhere.  Do not fold it over itself, since that would create what you’re trying to get out:  air bubbles.  Continue to squish your clay until it’s workable.  You can check your clay by cutting it in half with a wire.  When you cut it and don’t see any air bubbles, it should be good to go.  Kneading is the best method.

 

God is always pursuing us with an undying love.  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)

 

2.   Smack your clay into a round ball.  Do not pound it, smack it.

 

God will allow trials and tribulations in our lives to make us more dependent on Him.  “We are hard-pressed on every side yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—“  (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

 

3.   Hold the ball over the center of the Pottery wheel and throw the ball down toward the middle of the wheel.

 

4.   Dampen your hands and press the pedal to get the wheel turning slowly.  Cup both hands around the clay ball and squeeze to center the clay on the pottery wheel. 

 

5.   Raise the clay into a cone, then squish it down into a thick hockey puck.  Do this a couple of times because this helps condition the clay.  Always make sure the clay is centered.

 

Our lives must always be God-centered, not self-centered.

 

6.   Stick your thumb slowly into the middle while the clay is spinning until the clay opens up.

 

We must surrender or open ourselves up to the Lordship of the Potter.

 

7.   Stick your four fingers into the hole, and slowly pull out until the hole is about as big as you want the bottom to be. 

 

God has given us all a role to play in His plans.  He will decide what that role is and how big of a part we will play.

 

8.   Place your fingers on the edge of your newly widened hole.  Place one hand on the outside and the other on the inside of the clay wall making sure they are directly in line with each other.  Pull up the walls by starting at the base of the vessel and pulling towards the top with even pressure on your fingertip.  Continue this until you reach your desired height.  Pull slower than the wheel is rotating to be even and push extremely lightly this may take a while so you have to be patient.

 

God is extremely patient, longsuffering with us.  “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it”  (Philippians 1:6) 

 

9.   Allow the finished vessel to dry overnight before you attempt to remove it from the pottery wheel.  To remove the vessel, slide the cutting wire under the vessel to cut through the clay and lift the clay vessel loose.

 

10.                     Turn the vessel upside down on the pottery wheel and position it in the center of the wheel.  Use smaller clay balls to hold the vessel into place.  Turn the wheel slowly and use clay-shaping tools to form the lip at the bottom of the vessel.  Allow the vessel to dry completely before firing in the kiln.

 

The purpose of the firing process is to heat the clay until the particles melt and flow together, creating a strong single mass.  Through firing, the pores are reduced in size causing the material to shrink.

 

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”  (John 3:3)

 

Do you see it?  This process is likening to how God (the Potter) molds and shapes us (the clay) into vessels of Honor.  We as vessels should always reflect the craftsmanship of our Potter.  Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”  God will continue to break us, mold us and shape us into the image of His Son, Jesus because we are housing the Spirit of God in our vessels.

 

Why do we have to go through this process?  “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”  (2 Corinthians 4:7)  Since we are housing the Spirit of the Living God within our vessels to showcase His glory and not our own, we must surrender ourselves to the Potter to be prepared to display His all encompassing love, grace and mercy. Our responsibility as vessels of Honor is to keep our vessels sanctified.  1 Thessalonians 4:4, “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor.”

 

So let us surrender to the work of the Potter, the “author and finisher” of all things.  Allow Him to do as He pleases with us.  Jeremiah 18:6, “cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord.  Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand.”