An Unlikely Vessel

   My grandma was a bargain hunter with a diverse selection of collections. I was blessed to inherit many of her teacups, mostly chipped; but treasures nonetheless. Instead of storing them away or leaving them to collect dust, I love to use them to serve soup to my house guests. Their chipped edges don’t affect their usefulness. Most people are surprised and delighted at being served soup in a teacup. It’s a rather unlikely vessel, but it serves the purpose just fine.
   Like the treasure I see in those teacups, God loves us. We are the apple of His eye. As His children, He knows we are not perfect, having more than a few ‘chips’ in our character; but He still delights in us and delights to use us for His purposes. 
   As Christians, we have become containers for the grace of God - vessels of God’s choosing for God’s purpose. The vessel is merely the vehicle. What a humbling thought that the Lord of the Universe would use us, imperfect as we may be, to deliver His great treasure of grace…to the unsaved, to the weary, to our Brothers in need, to the poor, to the broken-hearted…( 2 Corinthians 4:7).  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
   We are an unlikely vessel, sometimes chipped or old; sometimes young and tattooed; but still useful to our God. And that usefulness is the key. God expec ...