An Honor to Be Used in His ServiceYet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people. Isaiah 64:8-9
I thought I looked and saw the Master standing, and at his feet lay an earthen vessel. It was not broken, not unfitted for service, yet there it lay, powerless and useless, until he took it up. He held it awhile, and I saw that he was filling it, and soon I beheld him walking in his garden, where he had “gone down to gather lilies.” The earthen vessel was yet again in his hand, and with it he watered his beautiful plants and caused their fragrances to be shed forth more abundantly. Then I said to myself, “Sorrowing Christian, hush! Hush! Peace, be still! You are this earthen vessel, powerless, it is true, yet not broken, still fit for the Master’s use. Sometimes you may be laid aside altogether from active service, and the question may arise, what is the Master doing with me now? Then may a voice speak to your inmost heart, ‘He is filling the vessel, yes, only filling it to be ready for use.’ Don’t ask how he will use you. Be silent. Is it not all too great an honor for you to be used by him at all? Be content, whether thou art employed in watering the lilies or in washing the feet of the saints. It doesn’t really matter. Surely it is enough for an earthen vessel to be in the Master’s hands and employed in the Master’s service.”
By C. H. Spurgeon
