Fit For The Master's Use

"But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

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.”  II Timothy 2:19-21

 

If we are to be used of God we must be fit or we ought not expect to be used mightily, it at all. As we read the book of Acts we see the early church was committed not only to evangelism but to each other as well. In the early chapters we see great growth, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit and multiplying (Acts 9:31). Multitudes were coming to Christ on a continual basis (Acts 2:41, 47; 4:4; 6:7; 8:6; 11:21, 24). There was real growth.

 In John 13:35 Jesus tells His disciples, "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love one for another."  We cannot expect to be used of God mightily when others see us and see a lack of love for one another. They see enough of this in the world.

 

God dealt harshly with the church when sin crept in as we see in Acts 5 when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit, attempting to appear spiritual. God was illustrating the severity of sin in the church. No doubt there was no grey area among the church as to whether or not God took personal holiness seriously. In I Corinthians 11:30 we see God took out some members of the church for abusing the Lord's table. Sobering, isn't it? Ephesians 5:11 tells us to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them. How can we be fruitful walking in darkness? No fruits of the Spirit in our personal lives and no fruit (new believers) in the church. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Leaven in the scriptures is a picture of sin and this applies to us individually as well as the church.

 

There is a snapshot of the high standard of following Jesus Christ in Luke 9. Jesus insists upon total commitment to Himself. Anything less and we are not fit for His use. Does this mean walking in perfection, never blowing it? No, but it means being sold out for Christ and desiring above all else to be glorifying and honoring to Him through an obedient life.

 

I want to be fit for His use. He did not save me to shelve me and I am certain He has little desire to use a half-hearted follower.