Being a Vessel

   God has handmade each one of us, which any artisan will tell you is no small undertaking.  When you make something with your own hands, you put a little of yourself into it, which is why, I think, the scripture says we are created in God's image.  There's a little of Him in each of us because he handmade us; He "skillfully wrought" us, as David so beautifully puts it in Psalm 139:15.  In fact, Psalm 139 is a fantastic Homage to the Maker, and it reminds us that we are each unique and intimately known to our God.
   Each of us is a vessel.  Think of yourself as a vessel of clay, because you were essentially made out of dust:

"then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground..." - Genesis 2:7a (ESV)

   And like a well made vessel you were finished, with a glaze only God could make:

"...and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature."          - Genesis 2:7b

   So we are each of us vessels.  And a vessel is only as useful as what it holds.  For us Believers, we are jars of the Spirit of God; we hold something of immense value, power, and brightness.  And He likes each vessel He made.  He loves each vessel He's made, loves each one immensely and equally.
   Here's the thing: do not despise what He made.  Love what He made.  Jesus, when he wanted to convey just how much we should love others, said, "Love them like you love yourself."  This kind of statement assumes that you actually do love yourself.  And I don't think Jesus meant this in the sense of self-preservation.  We all want to survive, and I guess our sense of personal protection of our life is a kind of love, but it's a very shabby love when it's turned on to someone else.  If your friends only cared about you as much as they could keep you alive, I doubt you'd be answering their phone calls.
   No, I think what Jesus expects of us with this statement is twofold.  First, we've got to love ourselves as we ought to, because God thinks we're pretty damn valuable.  Second, we've got to love everyone else we run into with equal sincerity and heart, because God thinks they're just as valuable as us.
  On the fist point I need only point to one thing to show how much God values us, and that is Jesus.  I don't fully understand the ins-and-outs of how Jesus was all man and all God, but the essence of the gift of Jesus is that God gave up everything to have us back.  Jesus is the lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world -- that means that God knew what He was going to give up, and he went ahead and made us anyway.  That is some crazy kind of love.
   So knowing this is how God loves, Jesus expects us to take part in it and love our neighbors.  I'm not going to pretend like I know just how to love as Jesus commands.  Neither am I going to pretend that I do love my neighbors as I love myself.  I will however say this: I'm on the right track, because I love myself, this vessel He made, and I'm willing to love my neighbors with the same fervor.  And with God, motive is everything.
   Being a vessel is a beautiful thing, and a peculiar thing.  In a sense it requires us to be worthy of what fills us.  And in a sense it doesn't matter a lick.  If you were thirsty enough, you'd drink clean water out of an old boot just as soon as you would a crystal goblet, because what matters is what's in the vessel.  The same goes for the Holy Spirit.  Some of us look like old boots, all cracked leather and frayed laces, and some of us are as sky-bright and chiseled as crystal, but all Believers carry immense value inside.  And if we love the Lord, we'll love what He has made and we'll offer up what He made back to Him, and He will make it as worthy as it needs to be.
  So be a vessel, be the vessel that He made, and love what He made.  Only then will the love you give away be as valuable as the love that was given to you.