Use Me

My Great Aunt Lottie had given me a pair of sherbert dishes that her ancestors had brought over from Germany. She gave these to me long before she died, telling me (and writing it in a note to me that I treasure) that she didn't want me to just put these up on a shelf to look at, but she wanted me to use and enjoy them as she and her husband had. I've not used them nearly enough.
I started collecting Roseville and McCoy pottery years ago. The more expensive the piece, the less I'd use it. Most of them were for display only. Then, I began collecting native American pottery, and there isn't a single piece that I use, they're all display only.
Awhile ago I was reading an article that we are vessels of God's Holy Spirit. Of course, I know how loved we are by the Father. We are precious to Him, He paid a great price for us. We were very expensive for Him, and yet He paid that price. I know without a doubt that He treasures us and wants us safe and out of harms way, just as all fathers want for their children. However, we were created for a reason, we were created for His glory. We are vessels of His love.
This got me to thinking about all those empty 'vessels' I have bought over the years to set up on a shelf and be admired, but not used. I never want to be that kind of vessel. I want to be used, to be filled up time and time again. I understand that it will result in some wear and tear, but that will only make me more precious in my Fathers eyes. My pottery that sits on the shelves...will my kids appreciate them more when they are passed down to them because they remember them having their turns on a shelf, or because they remember using them while they grew up?
My Great Aunt Lottie was a smart (and very strong Christian) woman. She told me many years ago that something worthy was worth being used for the reason it was created. I want to be worthy, and I am so grateful that God finds me worth using. I don't want to spend my life sitting on the shelf of life. I want to be used over and over and over again. Let those cracks and chips that come with being used be a badge of my faithfulness and of my love for my Father.

Father,
I ask You to forgive me of my shortcomings, my errors and mistakes. I thank You for Your mercy and Your grace that covers me completely.
I thank You, Lord, for the opportunities you have blessed me with to be used by You, to do Your will and Your bidding. I can think of no greater honor than to be used by You. Forgive me for the years that I spent sitting on the worlds shelf, concerned only with my own value to myself. When I realized how empty that life was, I realized it was because I, myself, was empty. Asking You to fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Lord, was one of the most important moments in my life. You, being forever faithful, filled me to overflowing, and my life has never been the same. For that, Father, I thank You. You are an amazing Father, You are my God and all that I do, let me do it for You.
In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.