Keeping the Vessel Clean - Martin Wiles

If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21 NLT

Keeping silver clean is no easy job.

As one-time antique dealers—and as recipients of my mother’s silver--my wife and I know a little about silver. One, it’s valuable, and two, keeping it clean is challenging. Before my mother gave us her silver flatware set, she would sit for hours, shining each piece until she could see her reflection in the forks, spoons, and butter knives. Then she separated the various utensils and placed them in a plastic bag where air could not touch them. So far, we have kept them in the same zip lock bags she placed them in. We know if we expose the set to air, we’ll soon have to repeat what she did before she gave them to us.

We’ve also owned silver tea sets, which we displayed on antique buffets. When shined, they made an attractive addition to our antique furniture. But after a short period, tarnish crept over each piece. We either had to polish them and put them away or leave them out and shine them every few months. Leaving them out and tarnished wasn’t a choice. Doing so ruined the look of our décor.

God requires purity to use us. Exposing silver to air means it will turn and eventually require cleaning. Living in the world exposes us to sin, whether we want it to or not. Even monks and nuns who withdraw from everyday life and environments still face the inner pull of sin. Cleaning silver can be challenging. So can keeping ourselves pure and holy.

Maintaining purity is easier when we recognize that we possess an inner power that enables us to be successful—the Spirit of God within us. Holiness is not something we can accomplish on our own, but it is possible when we allow God to perform it in us.

Just as silver exposed to air requires regular cleaning, so does maintaining holiness. If we neglect tending to holy living, the tarnish of sin will take over. But if we spend time in spiritual disciplines and make obeying God’s commands a priority, our vessels will remain pure.

Do whatever it takes to keep your vessel clean.

Father, I depend on your Spirit’s power to help me keep my vessel pure so I can be ready to be used by you. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing. No one escapes life's hurts, but we can move beyond them to hope and healing. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.