If you’ve had a good teacher, you’ll know that they encourage you to want to learn; to do better; to get things right. Learning – in my experience at least – is never achieved by being cross with students for not understanding, or for taking too long, for finding it hard or for… anything else. Maybe that’s true for the Christian life too.

Paul reminds Timothy that kindness and gentleness are better ways to accomplish someone’s discovery of their need to repent and believe in the truth (vs 24,25). These are also better ways of confronting opposition to the gospel. To prepare for being that kind of teacher, Paul advises him that endless arguments or quarrels about pointless and trivial matters achieve nothing (v 23). His initial instructions to be cleansed from those things which defile and to seek for spiritual fruit among the company of those who do the same (vs 21,22) will set Timothy on the right path as a teacher of the truth. While Paul is writing to him as a church leader, we’re all teachers of faith in some ways, so this applies to each of us.

We need to be consecrated vessels for God, to be used by him.

In verses 20 and 21 Paul urges Timothy to be the kind of person Christ could use for his noblest purposes. For this he uses the examples of vessels in a large house, of different kinds and materials for different purposes. Paul has often pointed out that all Christians are important and all have their own gifts.¹ Whether you are clergy or lay, a teacher, preacher, Sunday School teacher or a youth leader, or have other kinds of gifts, God can use you. Paul gives five characteristics of godly vessels, which we can apply to us as God’s leaders.

First, we must be clean: a dirty vessel is no good. The godly person must first be sanctified by accepting Jesus and his salvation. Second, the vessel must be an instrument for special purposes. This means being available for the Lord to use. Are you available today? Moody was told that God wants a man fully sold out for him. Third, the vessel must be made holy. In other words, a Christian must be separated for God’s ministry, like the vessels in the Temple. Fourth, a vessel must be useful to the Master. A broken vessel cannot hold wine. To be useful you must also be ready to train yourself for the job as God leads – and keep learning. Finally, a vessel must be prepared to do any good work. We cannot lay down conditions to God – we must be ready to go anywhere and do anything he wants. Paul told Timothy be ready to ‘preach … in season and out of season’.² Are you ready? God showed this to me and I had to start preaching during my travels in India – so I carried a few sermons in the back of my Bible. 

If you want to be a consecrated vessel for him and be of service to the Lord, you need all five characteristics.

Help us, Lord, to become consecrated vessels for you, useful and prepared to do any good work.

¹ 1 Cor 12  ² 2 Tim 4:2