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20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. ~ 2 Timothy 2:20-21
Deep in all of our hearts we long to be significant in this world. This is due to the fact that God made us to love others. In fact, He created us with two basic needs: to be loved and to love. The sign that we are getting His love is that we want to love others. If we have no proclivity to loving others, we aren't receiving the love that we need to do so.
In today's text, the Apostle Paul describes what it takes to be used of God. In v.20 we read, "In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use."
In this verse the Apostle uses "a large house" as an illustration for believers. The foundation of the house is safe and secure because God’s seal is on it. In the Bible, a seal is a mark of ownership and security. The seal of the believer is the Holy Spirit who guarantees that we are the recipients of God's love through His Son. As we grow in our understanding of His love for us, we will be more and more secure and less and less insecure. This is what frees us to love others unconditionally.
God uses anyone who is available, it really doesn't matter whether we are special or average. Scripture reveals that God even uses the devil to accomplish His work. In Romans 9, we are reminded that Pharaoh was used of God to free Israel from Egypt.
"In a large house there are articles; some for special purposes and some for common use." This is true of all homes. Some are honorable and some are common. This is the way God sees humanity. If we want to understand life as it really is, we have to look at humanity in that way. God sees all of us as useful vessels, some for great purposes and others for average purposes.
When the Apostle wrote, "Those who cleanse themselves," he means we are responsible to utilize the cleansing that has been provided us through God's word and His Spirit. This does not mean that we can cleanse ourselves. We have the responsibility, having believed in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, to use the provisions of His word and His Spirit to prepare ourselves for that which He has called us. This means we have to reject the philosophies of this world in order to be used of God in the lives of others.
God did not make us to live all alone in isolation, however the law of entropy has left its effects on us all. This is why the Lord Jesus was isolated on the cross so that we would not be isolated from God and others. It is out of our loved relationship with the Lord that we are enabled to love others as He loves us.
When we surround ourselves with those who are of the non-Christian view of life we are almost certain to be influenced by them. This does not mean that we are to avoid contact with non-Christians, it just means we must be diligent to be defined by God instead of them. When we are being defined by Him and operating out of His culture, we will be positioned to love others by sharing the life-giving message of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
The key to these two verse is found in the words, "...made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work."
The word "holy" means set apart for the purpose that we were created. God does the setting apart, if we let Him. And when He does this, and we give ourselves to Him and to His purposes, we become increasingly complete and decreasingly insecure. This. is what poises us to be most useful in the lives of others.
Finally, Elton Trueblood said it best when he said, “Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus.”
