ARE YOU A CUP OR A PITCHER?

ARE YOU A CUP OR A PITCHER?

Jer 18:3-4

3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

James 4:2-3

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

          I’m convinced that most of our dissatisfaction with God is due to a misunderstanding of who we are or what He intends us to be. For the sake of illustration let’s ask ourselves if we are cups or pitchers. The answer may well clear up much of the frustration we have in our relationship with God.

          Most of us pray thinking that we are cups. We only want the blessings that will fill our own very personal container. We pray for our own consumption and so we pray for only a cupful. That is the message of James 4:3. We ask in error because we ask with a selfish motive. We want God to bless me, mine, we and ours!

          One of my favorite characters is George Bailey who is the hero of the classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life. George always wanted to travel and to see the world. He even bought, or rather was given, a large piece of luggage on which he would paste stickers of all his travels. George thought himself to be a cup but God made him a pitcher. Cups are portable while pitchers are more stationary. George didn’t even get to take a honeymoon because, as a pitcher, he was pouring himself out to benefit others. Are you beginning to understand?

          If the Potter has made you a pitcher, it won’t ever be convenient for you to please yourself. Oh, you may try, but your plans are for cupfuls and God’s plans are for pitchers full. Are you frustrated? Do you feel stuck in a place or circumstance that doesn’t seem to fit? Are you wondering why God won’t answer your prayer? The problem may be in how you see yourself.

          Well, I am a pitcher by calling. Just about the time I get myself full of God’s blessings, He picks me up and pours me out into the lives of others. Now, if I think of myself as a cup, my life will be – indeed has been from time to time – very frustrating. Only when I see myself as God has made me will I be happy.

Mark 10:43-45

43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:

44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Dear Lord, I do not ask that my cup always overflow but that my pitcher may always be full. AMEN