Vessels of Honor

“O house of Israel, 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, O house of Israel.” Jeremiah 18:6.

God, our Creator, made man out of dust; He is the Potter and we are the clay. All men were created according to God’s image, for His honour and glory and we are all compared to earthen vessels.

Vessels made out of clay were used in the olden times to store different valuable products such as olives, oil, wine, etc. These vessels can be seen today in some well-known archaeological museums of the world.

They were made in a workshop, by skilled craftsmen. When a vessel had a crack it was mended with wax and sold at a cheaper price. People who treasured their products wanted vessels without wax so that they could hold the precious content without any risk. The Latin word for “wax” is “cera”, and for “without” is “sine”. The combination of these two words gives origin to the word sincere. We, as vessels of the Lord that contain the wonderful treasure of the truth, must be sincere, have a clean and virtuous heart so that no word of the precious truth of the gospel may be lost.

Since the fall of man into sin, we are all broken vessels; sin has opened big cracks in our character. It has destroyed the image of God in us, but there is no need to remain in that condition.

Our merciful God takes us into His workshop, but He does not use wax to mend us. The prophet Jeremiah explains to us what happens when we are found by the Lord, “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make [it].” (Jeremiah 18:1-4). God makes us all over again. Through Christ we become new creatures, new vessels, capable of containing the truth, living it, and preaching it, for the glory of God.

Once, King Ahasuerus of Persia gave a great feast that lasted seven days and invited all the people in his palace, “And – the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace; [Where were] white, green, and blue, [hangings], fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds [were of] gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble. And they gave [them] drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king. And the drinking [was] according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure.” Esther 1:5-8.

This feast is a wonderful allegory of the plan of salvation. Here it is spoken of golden vessels. In 1 Peter 1:7 we read, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” It is through trials and tested faith that we turn into golden vessels. Each one of us has gone through different trials, is tested in a different way, therefore the degree of genuine faith is different in each one, as the vessels were different one from the other, but they were all made of gold. King Ahasuerus is a symbol of God the Father. We are all invited to His great feast and we can only attend when we have turned into golden vessels through faith.

The amount of wine served is according to the size of the vessels. The wine is the grace of God, represented in the blood shed on Calvary. The king is generous and offers His grace without limits, but each one receives according to the capacity of his gold vessel, of his tried faith. Does it not really happen that way? The more we trust the Lord the more of His grace we receive! Our faith plays a great role in our daily life and in our preparation for the marriage of the Lamb.

ÒAnd the drinking [was] according to the law; none did compel.” Which law? The law of love. Only love for His subjects moved the King of the Universe to offer such a feast! Nobody is compelled to drink of the wine; there is no obligation to accept GodÕs grace, but it is poured generously according to every man’s pleasure.” We are the ones who decide how much we want to receive from His infinite grace.

We all have the privilege to become gold vessels for the glory of our God and receive of His grace in abundance. May the Lord help us to walk by faith at all times, so that we may be found prepared for the day Jesus comes as King of kings to take us home.
AMEN

Teresa Corti