2 Timothy 2:20-21

In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honourable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.

Here, Paul is describing the Church. It is made up of very different people who have a wide variety of roles. Paul’s concern was that Timothy should live in a state of constant readiness for whatever the Lord might want him to do, but this would only be possible if he kept himself pure.

Paul had his eyes wide open to the challenges that Timothy would face as a young leader in a non-Christian – largely anti-Christian – society. He knew that Timothy would be tempted each day to compromise and to slip back into godless ways. Paul would say exactly the same to leaders today. Our society is driven by a lust for money, sex and power in just the same way as Roman society was. It is expressed in completely different ways, but the challenge to keep pure is as vital today as it was then. The devil does an amazing job at making purity sound dull and joyless, because the truth is the exact opposite. Purity is the route to living life to the full, and Paul was eager that Timothy shouldn’t settle for anything less than the best.

Paul’s prime desire for Timothy was that he should always be ready to do what the Lord wanted him to, and I have no doubt that this is our greatest desire too. We want our lives to count for something. We want to do things that will be a lasting blessing. To use Paul’s language, we want to be like a household utensil that is ready to be used. We need to work hard to ensure each day that we stay clean in a polluted society which will try every day to make us mucky.

Question

What do you do each day to help you to stay clean?

Prayer

Lord God, help me to live so close to you that I will always be available for you to use. Amen