Sacred Vessels

In my devos today I came across the story of the writing on the wall. I had not read the story for some time, so I decided to do so. In the account, King Belshazzar is throwing a huge party with thousands of people. They are drinking wine, and the king instructs his servants to bring out the cups that had been stolen from Jerusalem. These cups had been used for sacred purposes in God’s temple, and now Belshazzar is using them to get drunk with his lords, wives, and concubines. On top of that, they proceed to praise other false Gods while drinking the wine. In the end, a jealous God carries out his justice and Belshazzar loses his kingdom and his life.
As I was reading the narrative, I saw some applications in my own life. As a Christian, I am a vessel of God. His spirit lives in me. I am his temple. I am intended to be used for his sacred purposes. Just as Belshazzar’s blasphemy angered God, so misuse of his vessels (Christians) today will anger him. When I say misuse, I don’t only mean blatant disregard of God’s commands, though that is clearly one side of it. I mean I am guilty of misusing Christianity. This is especially true when it comes to music. I love music. It helps me connect to God and worship, which is why it is such a powerful tool today. But as many Christians, I have been guilty of using music and worship as a way to make me feel good, to feel holy. It’s like we are trying to get drunk off God. Not that being intoxicated with the Holy Spirit is a bad thing, but we at times make it more about us than about God. Just because I am not blatantly blaspheming God to his face does not mean I am making him the center. My intention and prayer is that I might make God the center of my story, not me. When we “give our lives” to God, that is what is implied; a complete shift of focus from us to our savior. But many times this is not how it plays out. Too often it is about how God makes OUR life better. How He saved US. How He loved US. How He died for US. All these things are great, but the creator of the universe didn’t give his only son up to be tortured and killed simply so that we could feel good or have better lives or get more attention. When we turn our lives over to God, He expects to be the center of our stories. He wants our complete and total devotion. He wants our lives. He is the one in the spotlight now. His light shines on us only so we can reflect it to the world. And our whole lives should be wrapped up in this purpose; our jobs, our daily choices, our relationships, our worship, all of it. Otherwise, we are misusing his sacred vessels, and as we saw in Belshazzar’s case, God won’t put up with that forever.