{"id":301,"date":"2019-10-28T01:14:13","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T01:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/?p=301"},"modified":"2019-10-28T01:14:13","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T01:14:13","slug":"vessels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/2019\/10\/28\/vessels\/","title":{"rendered":"Vessels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Container Store is a national chain of retail outlets\nfounded and headquartered in Dallas, TX. It is a department store where all the\ndepartments are full of things that hold, organize, and contain your stuff. Our\nsociety sustains this $800 million enterprise that focuses on storing and\norganizing the things we buy and own, as well as a $38 billion self-storage\nindustry that allows us to keep the stuff we buy that we don\u2019t have room for in\nour homes. Materialism and the acquisition of things would be a great topic for\ndiscussion for some other day. I think it is funny that the name \u201cContainer\nStore\u201d is somewhat redundant<\/strong>; by definition, you store<\/strong> stuff in a container<\/strong>.\n The word vessel comes from the Latin\n\u201cvas\u201d and is also the root of our word \u201cvase.\u201d It means just what we think that\nit means \u2013 a thing that carries or holds or stores some other thing. A cargo\nship, an artery, and a cooking pot are all vessels. And, surely in the context\nof this letter, the concept that your body is a vessel that can be filled\nshould bring to mind a scripture:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God\nstands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and,\n“Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness<\/strong>.”\nNow in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also\nvessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor.\nTherefore, if anyone cleanses himself<\/strong> from these things, he will be a\nvessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good\nwork. <\/em>(2 Timothy 2:19-21)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This scripture goes on to give us all some really good\nadvice (no surprise there\u2026) so you will certainly benefit if you read the whole\nchapter. We know that cargo ships are supposed to hold cargo, arteries are meant\nto hold blood, and cooking pots hold food; it seems from the scripture that our\nbodies should hold honor. These containers, however, don\u2019t need to hold what they\nare meant for.  You could fill a cargo\nship with seawater. Or you could fill arteries with chocolate pudding.  And as the scripture says, you can fill your\nbody with dishonor. Things are simply better when vessels are filled with\nwhat they were meant for<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is wasteful<\/em>, but be filled with the Spirit<\/strong>,\nspeaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and\nmaking melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things\nin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; <\/em>(Eph\n5:18-20)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, I encourage you to read the whole chapter. Verse\n18 goes so well with the others surrounding it. If my \u201cself\u201d is full of God\u2019s\nspirit, is there room for anything else? Well, yes, I think so. I can fill my\n\u201cself\u201d with love. \u201cSelf\u201d is a word I put in place of \u201cvessel.\u201d I originally used\nthe word \u201cbody,\u201d but changed it for \u201cself.\u201d The word \u201cbody\u201d seemed so physical,\nso limited, so constrained by Newtonian physics\u2026 \u201cSelf\u201d has a much more\nmetaphysical \/ spiritual connotation. Newtonian physics gives us the law \u201cno\ntwo things can occupy the same space at the same time.\u201d Newtonian physics\nneed not apply to the truths of God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of physics, I\u2019m reminded of the saying, \u201cnature\nabhors a vacuum.\u201d This refers to the idea that, on earth under our atmosphere,\nif you take everything out of a space, including the air, (creating a vacuum)\nsomething (usually air) will race to fill it in, and it is really difficult to\nprevent that from happening. Here\u2019s a case where a void is filled with\nsomething other than air\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of\na man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.\n“Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it\ncomes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. “Then it goes and\ntakes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go\nin and live there<\/strong>; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the\nfirst. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” <\/em>(Matthew\n12:43-45)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we need to make sure that we don\u2019t fill our \u201cself\u201d with\nthe wrong thing, but we also need to be sure that we don\u2019t leave it empty! In\nEphesians 5:18, Paul tells us to be filled with the Spirit<\/strong>. How? Here is\none hint: there\u2019s a parallelish verse in Colossians that seems to equate the\nWord with the Spirit\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let the Word<\/strong><\/em> of Christ richly dwell within you<\/em><\/strong>, with all wisdom teaching and\nadmonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with\nthankfulness in your hearts to God. <\/em>(Col <\/em>3:16)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This connection should come as no surprise, given the\nwell-known intro to John:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word\nwas with God, and the Word was God<\/strong>. He was in the beginning with God.\nAll things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into\nbeing that has come into being. <\/em>(John 1:1-3)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, does this mean that we can claim some protection<\/strong>\nagainst our vessel being filled with the wrong thing by simply reading God\u2019s\nWord? What do you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a question to ponder: What is more valuable, the\ncontainer or the contents? Yes, of course it depends. The golden chalice that\nNebuchadnezzar took from the temple is probably more important than\nBelshazzar\u2019s wine. But, a plastic bucket filled with rubies and diamonds\u2026 You\nget the picture. What about the vessel that is my \u201cself,\u201c filled with God\u2019s\nSpirit? God\u2019s Spirit that fills me might easily be the most valuable thing I\ncould possibly conceive<\/strong>. But then, God so loved me that He sacrificed His\nonly Son so that I might live. That makes me pretty valuable, right? Maybe that\nis just a silly question without an answer. \nLet\u2019s move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that scripture from 2Tim, notice the \u201cfirm foundation of\nGod.\u201d This point ties in nicely with a familiar verse: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For no man can lay a foundation other than the\none which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The foundation is not the container, or vessel, but it\nsupports the vessel. The sea supports the cargo ship, the stove supports the\npot, my flesh supports my arteries, and our Messiah supports us<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens when you try to put 10 pounds of stuff into a 5-pound\nbag? Well, once again we are faced with the questions: what is the intended\npurpose of the bag and the stuff we\u2019re trying to contain? And, what are the\ncircumstances? Can we be filled to overflowing with God\u2019s Spirit? Yup, and\nhere\u2019s what happens:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You prepare a table before me in the presence\nof my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows<\/strong>. Surely\ngoodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will\ndwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalms 23:5-6)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overflowing with God\u2019s goodness and lovingkindness sounds\npretty good, but sometimes full is all we get. I will gladly accept \u201cmerely\u201d God\u2019s\nfullness. That sounds pretty awesome, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the vessels were full, she said to her\nson, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is\nnot one vessel more.” And the oil stopped. <\/em>(2 Kings 4:6)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot help thinking of a list of containers found in the\nBible and wondering about them\u2026 The water jars that held the wine in Cana,\nElijah\u2019s meal in a barrel and oil in\na cruse, the jars of the 12 virgins, the baskets used to collect the\nleft over loaves and fish, old versus new wineskins, Jeremiah\u2019s muddy cistern,\nthe rich fool\u2019s bigger barns, whitewashed sepulchers, the basket that carried\nthe infant Moses, the alabaster jar of nard, Noah\u2019s ark, The Ark of the\nCovenant\u2026 hundreds of vessels to consider. Fill yours with His Spirit and\nlove<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set your mind on the things\nabove, not on the things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2)                     <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace to you and glory to God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Nate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

www.paraklesis.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Container Store is a national chain of retail outlets founded and headquartered in Dallas, TX. It is a department store where all the departments are full of things that hold, organize, and contain your stuff. Our society sustains this $800 million enterprise that focuses on storing and organizing the things we buy and own, … Continue reading “Vessels”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":302,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions\/302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}