Text: 2 Tim 2: 20 – 21
When you see how people are passing away daily, then you will know what it is to appreciate God. Listen, no matter what God has not done, thank Him for what he has done. Thank God for the gift of life! Our Christian life is sharpened by the word of God. Every one of us is a borrowed vessel. As we talk about God’s word today, it is important that we open up our hearts. Some are vessels unto honour and some are vessels unto dishonour, which I refer to as the borrowed vessel. God made us vessel from His very self … let us make man in our image, after our likeness – Gen 1: 26. The day we give our lives to God, we become vessels unto honour. When you become a vessel unto honour in the house of God and serve, God will promote you without you fasting and praying for promotion.
Lucifer was made perfect and beautiful but he missed it along the line and wanted to be like the Most High God. Your greatest experience in God is not a miracle but to be welcomed home on that day. Everyone is a vessel; some unto honour while some unto dishonour. If you do not belong to God, you are a borrowed vessel. The issue with the borrowed vessel is that they are not for permanent use. Many are in the church but they are not known by God -in service, but not in God.
Borrowed vessels are like a bone in the neck in the body of Christ today. No matter the encounter, they turn around at the slightest opportunity. They ate manner and drank water from the rock yet they murmured. Borrowed vessels have infiltrated the church. What will people say of you out there in the office or school? Borrowed vessels can sing in church and sing about you outside the church. It is difficult to spot borrowed vessels in church but God has given us a hint that by their fruits, you shall know them.
Some fruits of borrowed vessels
- Hypocrisy: Man has mastered the act of pretence such that anybody can be deceived. Why is this possible? Devil is the master of disguise! Jer 17: 9
- The association they keep: If you are the only honest person among a group of five, it’s a matter of time. If you are the only tacit member among a group of gossips, it’s a matter of time. The story of the old and new prophet is a classical case – 1 Kings 13: 1- end
- Betrayers of the faith: Borrowed vessels are betrayers of the church and the brethren. Zech 13: 6. Sisera died in the house of his friend Judg 4: 17-21. Betrayal of friends. Samson was robbed of his power in the laps of Delilah – betrayals of trust! And he rose and shook himself as other times but he wist not that the Lord has left him – Judg 16:20. Are you a vessel unto honour or a borrowed vessel?
God Bless You!