Just Vessels

I was reading the Elijah List this morning. I read an article about facing giants. A thought popped in my head about Moses. Moses didn't get to enter into the promised land and the Israelites had a new leader. If you think about it, the Israelites had become reliant on Moses all of those years. If the food wasn't coming, who was the first person they came to? Moses. If there was a lack of water, who did they come to? Moses. They always came to Moses with their needs. They also came to Moses with their complaints. Could you imagine being Moses and having to bear that load all of those years? Instead of praying to God, the Israelites expected Moses to talk to God for them. Now in the Old Testament, that is kind of how it worked, going through a sort of priest to talk to God. Once Jesus came and that veil was ripped between God and man, we now have the ability to speak to God. But, back to Moses. So, all of these years the Israelites pretty much relied on a man to get them through the desert and into the promised land. Well, Moses wasn't allowed to go in, so they had to go alone. What happened? They felt small next to the giants. Do you think that they would have feared the giants had Moses been able to go with them? Maybe, who knows. The thing is that even though God had simply USED Moses as a vessel, their eyes had become clouded with the vessel, rather than the God who had used the vessel. So, when they came to tell the rest of the Israelites what they had seen, they were quick to point out a weakness. Their humanity. For all of those years they looked to a man. I think it was God's way of opening their eyes and saying "Hey, you are only human." David, when he faced the giant, didn't rely on his humanity, but he put his trust in his God. That is why the giant fell. When we face our giants everyday, are we coming with a "human" mindset of our own ability or are we looking from God's view? It's not the vessel that is important, it's what is in the vessel. If the vessel boasts of itself, it will empty out what it once held. Confidence in oneself's own abilities crowd out God. You may pray five hours a day, read a book of the Bible a day, fast for 40 days, and worship and dance with the best of them ... but, if you put your confidence in being a Christian more than you put in the very God you are worshipping, you will become an empty vessel, because you will no longer see the need to carry God within you. Just think about it.