Vessels of Grace, Climb On In…

Have you ever thought of yourself as a vessel? Probably not! Even if you have I doubt you have spent days or weeks meditating on the idea of being a vessel. So here’s your challenge, for the month of February, (no I didn’t choose February because it has less days…but that was good thinking on your part.) take each day and begin your day by recognizing you are a vessel.

Now as you begin to recognize your “vesselness” you can even begin each day by seeing yourself climb in the vessel. Maybe I’m ahead of myself here, you may be asking, “What in the heck are you talking about?” “A vessel? Me?” “What?”

Okay, Okay, I agree I jumped in (no pun intended there) a little quick. So let’s back that ship up and try again.  If you have been saved by God’s grace through faith and you have repented of your sin and trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord then you are a child of God. You have been adopted into the family of God. As a sinner saved by God’s grace, God has not just forgiven you of your sins but has redeemed you and made you righteous in His sight by given you Christ’s righteousness.

What does that mean? It means that because of God’s grace being poured out on your life you can expect God to use your life to bring glory to Himself. This means that God has prepared good works for you and is equipping you to do them. In other words you are a vessel of God on the sea of grace. God’s grace powers you, the vessel, by His grace. You are sent out to accomplish His will.

So back to the beginning we go. You awake and are ready for the day. You climb on in the vessel for the day. Where will you go today? You may have plans, ideas, thoughts, goals and so on, but remember all of these may change. First and foremost you must realize that you are a vessel today and you must be willing to go where Christ leads, where His Holy Spirit directs, where His grace enables you to go.

How do you know you are going the right way, doing the right thing, saying the correct words, trusting fully? Take your plans and submit them to the Lord, bath them in prayer. Sometimes we may think we are headed in the wrong direction and we may be right. But God can even use our bad decisions and choices to teach us about how much He loves us. He is able, more than able.

If our hearts and minds and souls really, I mean really set on glorifying God, loving God, then flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, truth, faith, love and peace. This is a full life. This is a life that will bring freedom unimaginable. This is a life that is fulfilling, exhilarating, and truly full of satisfaction. This is a life that is not lacking, not wanting, not disappointing, while rewarding it may be filled with pain and agony and angst and hard work and sorrow, but it is a life that is worth it.

God’s grace is amazing, His Holiness complete. Maybe you are unsure about being a vessel, maybe you don’t like the idea of riding on a sea of grace, too radical, too simple, too out of control for you. I understand, I surely do, I’ve been there, I’ve thought that, all I can say is watch my vessel, better yet climb on in and ride with me a while. I pray you’ll see His grace is free, His grace is freeing, His grace is healing, His grace is redeeming, His sea of grace is the only place my vessel can sail victoriously, climb on in, you’ll see.