You can be a vessel

Texts: Judges 4:4-9; 6:11-16, Isaiah 45:1-6, Jonah: 1 – 4

A vessel is a container but in this case a vessel is a person regarded as a vehicle for some purpose or task. Someone that can transport good message or that can carry good messages and deliver. A vessel can be unto honour that is useful or good or unto dishonour that is useless or bad. My prayer is that you will be a good vessel. To be a good vessel the requirements are very simple: Availability, Readiness and Willingess, Obedience.

Your family background, position in the family, your past, race or tribe, nation, position, wealth, education and gender are not even relevant. If you are obedient to God's calling and you are ready for kingdom work and available, you are the vessel God is looking for. There are many examples of people in the Holy Bible who were vessels God had used such as: Apostle Paul, Gideon, Prophetess Deborah, Jonah and many others. Till today, God is still using people in our generation all over the universe. We have Apostles, Evangelists, Pastors, Prophets, Teachers and Missionaries in the various mission fields. Ephesians 4:11.

God has created you for a purpose and has given different talents or gifts to everybody. 1st Corinthians 12:8-10. There are gifts of word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gift of healing, working of miracles, gift of prophecy, discerning of spirits, diverse kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues. It is your duty to know the purpose of your creation and also to discover your talent or ministry with the help of the Holy Spirit so that you can be fulfilled. Have you ever thought or wondered if there is work for you in the kingdom, or asked yourself if God can use you? Yes, He can.

Let us see how some of the people mentioned above responded to God's call. When God wanted to make use of Gideon as a vessel to deliver the Israelites from the Midianites who had oppressed them for seven years, God sent an angel to Gideon and the angel told him Judges 6:12, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior". Judges 6:14. " Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you? The Lord promised to be with him even though Gideon considered his clan as the weakest in Manasseh and his position being the least in his family because God wanted to use him, He supported him and assured him of victory. Evidence of God support was demonstrated by reducing thirty two thousand men prepared by Gideon for war to three hundred men by God despite the great number of the Midianites. Gideon was instructed to destroy Baal's altar and to build another altar for God and he did. All these were possible because God supported him as a vessel. Afterwards the scripture says in Luke 1:37, "For nothing is impossible with God".

Prophetess Deborah, a Judge was used (Judges 4:4-9) by God despite the fact that women were not recognised in Israel. She was chosen to lead the Isrealites against King Jabin of Canaan and his army commander Sisera. Deborah with her army leader Barak, won the battle. Under her Israel was victorious and there was peace in Isreal during Deborah's period. Deborah encouraged her people to obey God.

God anointed King Cyrus through a gentile rule. Isaiah 45:1-6 because God had special tasks for him to perform for Israel: to allow Jerusalem that is God's city to be rebuilt, and to set the exiles free without expecting anything in return.

God did seven spectacular things for King Cyrus to empower him: God held his right hand to subdue nations, He opened doors before him so that the gate will not be shut, He levelled all mountains before him, Broke down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron, Gave him treasures of darkness and riches stored in secret places, Bestowed on him a title of honour, Promised to strengthen him and the king became a useful vessel and carried out God's instructions successfully.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah in Jonah:1-4 and despite the fact that Jonah was running away from God when he was asked to go and preach the message of salvation to them in Nineveh, God stopped him and turned him around. God allowed him to be swallowed by a great fish that eventually vomitted him on dry land. Eventually, he went to preach the message of salvation to them in Nineveh. God being a merciful God had mercy on Jonah and gave him another chance. Through him the people were delivered. Brethen, what are you waiting for? God supports His own programme. Be assured that if He calls you He will support you, give you the grace and the power to perform the task. Has God been calling you?

He can get to you through dreams, visions, reading the scriptures, through somebody's testimony, by listening to a sermon, through quickening of the Spirit, voice of the Holy Spirit, through the word of wisdom and knowledge, through an angel or directly from God. God can call you through any of the ways listed. Has He been calling you and you are saying the voice is not loud enough? Or are you running away like Jonah or are you saying you are not ready yet? Are you delaying until you accumulate all the worldly things? Luke 14:16-24 says you can be replaced. I pray you will never be replaced in Jesus name. Tomorrow may be too late. You may be another Esther who saved her tribe. You may be that person the Lord is waiting for to deliver his/her tribe, nation or to preach the message of salvation and deliver them from destruction.

Be like Apostle Paul who surrended as soon as he was called. His name was changed from Saul to Paul. He received his sight and was filled with the Holy Spirit immediately, he started the kingdom work. You can also be like Isaiah (Isaiah 6:8) who said when he was called "Here am I, send me". Be ready to be used. Matthew 9:37-38, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of harvest to send you into his harvest field.

Prayer: Lord, in the name of Jesus, make me a vessel. Grant me the grace to be available and the willingness to obey whenever you call me unto your harvest field. AMEN.