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TOYS ON THE STAIRS
2 Timothy 2:20-21
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver,
but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore
if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for
honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good
work.
With five children all under nine years old, it is not uncommon for our staircase
to be besieged with toys. One day I was headed upstairs when I nearly slipped
on a toy that had been carelessly left on the third step. After regaining my
footing I looked down and discovered that almost every step had some discarded
plaything that had not yet made it to its assigned place in the toy box upstairs. There
were Barbie dolls, puzzle pieces, games, Beanie Babies, action figures.. I
called our two older children in from outside and gave them a lecture about putting
things back where they belong when they are finished playing with them. "See
these stairs!" I deplored, "Do they look like a toy box?!" After
a stern lecture, the stairs soon were cleared and my frustration subsided.
Later, as I reflected on that moment, I thought about my life as a Christian. Christians,
like staircases and toy boxes, are set apart for an intended purpose. That
purpose is to bring honor to God and to be useful vessels in this earthly kingdom. I
wonder how often God looks down at my life and sees me behaving in a way that
Christians are not intended to behave?
This process of being set apart for our intended purpose is what the Bible calls "sanctification." The
Apostle Paul reminds us that our task as Christians is to cleanse ourselves from
dishonorable actions and be sanctified and useful for our Master. When
we behave in dishonorable ways, we are not fulfilling our intended purpose. But
when we conform to the image and example of Christ, we are set apart-different
from the world and therefore able to accomplish God's purpose in our life.
If you are like me, there are probably times in your life when God has to call
you in from some wayward journey and prompt you to do a little stair-cleaning. When
God looks down at a life strewn with worldly toys and distractions that do not
belong there, He inevitably disciplines us by requiring us to remove the dishonorable
vessels from our spiritual house (Cf. 2 Tim. 2:20 ).
Are you being set apart for your intended purpose? Are you being sanctified ? Just
hours before He was crucified, Jesus prayed for us and asked the Father to sanctify
us. He prayed, "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." (John
17:17) Paul also connects our sanctification to the Word of God (Cf. 1
Tim. 4:5; Eph. 5:26 ). The key to our sanctification, then, is staying
connected to the Word. If it has been a while since you opened the Word
of God and allowed it to nourish your soul, you probably have a few toys on the
stairs.
J.B. Hixson, Th. M., Associate Pastor
Grace
Bible Church of Houston,
www.gbchouston.org
jb@hixson.org
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