How can we be useful to God? It is quite a thought that we can be useful to him at all. We might wonder what good puny human beings, even Christian human beings, like us can be to the Almighty Creator. Yet, that is exactly what the Bible says: “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.” (2 Timothy 2:20). That might seem to be the end of the matter: some people are useful to God, others aren’t.
But Paul goes on, “If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (verses 21). So, our usefulness (or lack of it) is not set in stone and it is possible to become useful to God, the “Master” of the house in this picture. How, then can we become useful?
Paul continues, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (verse 22). (The “evil desires of youth”, then, are more than sexual sins!) Once again we see that living as a Christian has less to do with acquiring skills or knowledge and more to do with having a transformed character. Here, it is about having new desires. Are there desires you need to flee (for success, reputation, wealth, comfort, etc.) and things you need to pursue in their place if you are to be more useful to God?
Chris Hobbs,
Vicar.