Jeremiah was about to learn that He was a chosen vessel of God… 

The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”                                                                 (Jeremiah 1:4-5) 

Pretty heady stuff!  But when God called Jeremiah it was not for Jeremiah’s glory.  His calling existed to bring glory to God alone.  He was called to speak God’s Word for God’s purposes.  He was a vessel used by God.

God’s word tells us that we also are vessels. (2 Timothy 2:20-21)  But even so, it’s not about us; it’s not about the vessel.

In our home fellowship we have a brother named Richard who made a point of this for us, for many, many months!  In fact, he’s still making the point after a year!  God has etched this into his very being, and what an excellent word it is!  It’s not surprising, then, that I have done a lot of meditating on the subject.  I can hear Richard as I type, “You’re just a vessel!  It’s not about us, it’s all about Him!”

Here’s a couple things I’ve considered as I’ve thought about being a vessel for God…

God’s vessel

Since I am God’s vessel, and exist for God’s purposes, I have no right to do my own thing!  Not only can I not take the credit for being used by God; I also don’t have the final say on if I want to be used by God, or how God will use me!

Take Jeremiah and Jonah…  Both were to abide in the LORD and be obedient to what God had called them to do.  That should go without saying; but Jonah thought he could opt out!  It wasn’t that Jonah couldn’t hear God; he simply didn’t want to obey!  Neither felt up to the task that God had called them to, but Jeremiah talked to the LORD about it, and after receiving God’s encouragement and instruction, obeyed.  Jonah, on the other hand, “ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish!”  He later learned that it’s not so easy to run from God; He knows exactly where we are, and in the end, God will have His way!

God’s plan, not mine!

A vessel exists to be filled, pure and simple.  Since God’s the one filling it, He gets to decide what to fill it with, and how to use it!  God prepares us as vessels for his own purposes. Just as Jeremiah was told by the LORD that he was set apart and appointed as a prophet to the nations, God also had his own unique plans for Jonah; and has specific plans for you and me:

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” – Ephesians 2:10

You see, it’s not up to the vessel to decide how it will used; the choice is God’s.  God prepares a vessel for His purposes, then He fills it with His treasure.  The treasure is then poured out of the vessel for His glory… to accomplish what He wants!

Praise God!

“Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:9-10)

The vessel is filled with His treasure, (His words), to accomplish what He wants.  It could be to uproot, or it could be to plant; it could be to “throw down” or it could be build.  The purpose is God’s; it’s not up to the vessel to decide what’s it’s purpose should be.

Vessels for Jesus

I’ve got a little glass whale sitting on my desk, with a tiny little Jonah sitting in it’s belly.  My wife gave it to me as a gift.  It’s next to all my recording gear and right below my monitor.  It’s amazing how many times I’ve looked at that thing and thought about Jonah and how his story applies to my life!  It reminds me that I’m only a vessel, but I want to be the kind of vessel that’s running to God, not away from Him!  That means that I need to understand who’s God, and who’s the vessel.  When that becomes clear everything else falls into place.