7 Vessels

~ A Progression of Healthy Christians ~

There are many word pictures of Christians in the Bible. One of my favorites is the image of vessels. They can be listed in a seven-step progression in the Christian life.

Chosen Vessels ~ In the Old Testament we find Israel is God’s chosen people. In the New Testament individual Christians are chosen by God. For example we read concerning the apostle Paul, “He is a chosen vessel unto Me” (Acts 9:15).

Broken Vessels ~ All mankind is marred by the Fall of Man in the original garden. In order to come to Christ, an individual must realize his brokenness and see his sin as God sees it. Many times after becoming a Christian we go through periods of trial which breaks us even more. David wrote, “I am like a broken vessel” (Psalm 31:12).

Emptied Vessels ~ When a vessel is broken that which is inside spills out—but often not all of the contents. A dirty vessel will contaminate the material which I put into it. As Christians we need to completely empty ourselves so that the Spirit of God may fill us completely. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Molded Vessels ~ Vessels come in all sizes and shapes and are useful for many different purposes. “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?’ says the LORD. ‘Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand…’ ” (Jeremiah 18:5-6). Christians, like vessels, exhibit great variety. God Himself is molding each one of us. God shapes us with different natural abilities and spiritual gifts for His purpose in our lives.

Filled Vessels ~ God wants us to be “filled with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:18) so that we are useful to His kingdom and His purposes. There is a story of an elderly Christian who related his idea of the Christian life this way. “Inside me lives a black dog and a white dog—whichever I feed is the one that controls the other.” While simple in explanation, this is a profound explanation of the Christian life. The key question is are we feeding our natural sin nature or our new spiritual life we received at our second birth?

Dedicated Vessels ~ Non-believing vessels are headed for destruction, but when we accepted Christ as our Savior He set us apart (sanctified us or dedicated us) for Himself. “Vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called” (Romans 9:22-24).

Useful Vessels ~ God has a purpose for each of our lives. Are we fulfilling His purpose for our life? At natural birth we receive natural abilities. At the second, spiritual, birth we are given spiritual gifts. The purpose of spiritual gifts is to serve others. Once we become a Christian our purpose in life is to be a “ministering vessel” (1 Chronicles 9:28). Are we fulfilling our calling?

There are other descriptive terms in Scripture applied to the concept of individuals as vessels. The key point to remember is that God is able—and desires—to use every vessel He has!

CONTEMPLATE: At what level in this seven step-progression are you right now?