Holy Instrument
“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. 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.”
Today’s Text: 2 Timothy 2:14-26 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
Am I “useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work?” The Apostle Paul suggests that that is what it means to be “holy,” to be “instruments for special purposes”—that is, God’s purposes, not our own.
Generally speaking, I feel like what Paul says here has been the overarching narrative of my life. God has been drawing me more and more away from being an instrument of “common use” and honing me to be an instrument for His purposes.
But what does it mean to cleanse myself from being an instrument for common use?
Because there is no doubt that it is God who, by His sovereign grace, has been calling me and molding me to be an instrument for His special purposes. Even so, there is a response on my part to become that special instrument. I must “cleanse myself from being an instrument for common use.”
When I cleanse myself in that way, then God will make me holy and useful for His purposes.
It takes a conscientious effort to see that our daily lives are divided into activities deemed either “special purposes” or “common use.” It may take even more of a conscientious effort to recognize that the activities in either category are exactly the same, the only difference being our perspective and the posture of our hearts behind those activities.
To take a very simple and obvious example, eating. Eating is certainly an activity (a necessary activity) that might normally be considered “common use.” But when we eat with thanksgiving in our hearts for God’s daily provision, the eating becomes a special purpose. When we eat for the sake of building up fellowship and encouraging one another in the name of Jesus Christ, the eating becomes a special purpose—holy.
When our hearts and our minds are in the habit of existing in the “common use” areas of our souls, everything we do feels like “common use”—even Sunday worship.
When our hearts and our minds are in the habit of living in God’s “special purposes,” we offer our activity of eating (or whatever) to God as an offering, and He makes us holy instruments for His special purposes.
We see this in our families too. When the simple act of eating together becomes a bother and not a blessing, it is probably because the family is existing in the world of “common use” rather than living as holy instruments for God’s special purposes.
Cleansing myself from being an instrument for common use means to train my mind and my heart to be in the habit of living for God’s special purposes in every common thing that I do. That is discipleship.
Father, You are holy, holy, holy. And yet I find myself existing in the common, common, common every day. Forgive me when I exist in the common, rather than living for Your special purposes. Change my heart and mind to have your perspective about these things. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
