How many times, in considering the call of God and the magnitude of the work to be done, do we excuse ourselves from the task, considering ourselves to be just ‘ordinary things’? Yet, throughout the Word of God we are shown that God chooses those things that have no greatness in themselves. An ordinary stone in the hand of an ordinary young man took down a giant. An ordinary rod in the hand of an ordinary shepherd wrought a mighty deliverance for a nation held in slavery. Ordinary people, ordinary places, and yet extraordinary things were accomplished; what is the secret? Could it be found in the scripture Romans 6:13?
“Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Instruments of righteousness; this is God’s plan for our members and faculties here on earth. We yielded easily before; giving in to the pressures both from within and without to conform to the ideology of the world, and satisfying the lusts of this flesh. Now God is calling us to surrender to the pressure exerted on us by His Spirit; to present ourselves an instrument of righteousness. In its broadest sense, an instrument is a tool or a means to accomplish an end; however, a closer examination of the word shows it to be a tool used specifically for delicate work, or for scientific or artistic purposes. Truly the work that the Holy Spirit does in the soul of man is delicate; the cutting away of the old, sinful nature which was ours from birth, and the implanting of a new, holy, spiritual nature received at the new birth when we accept Jesus Christ as the new Lord of our life. When a natural or ordinary thing is yielded to God, there are supernatural ramifications, as so clearly seen throughout the Word of God.
What is it that God wants to do in our lives? Where do we stop believing in His ability, and that what He has promised He is able also to perform? Do we think that God can only do great things with great things? At the wedding of Cana, Jesus caused water to be made into wine. The miracle was done by the Lord, and yet the earthen water pots were a necessary fixture. They were ordinary vessels, not made of any fine material nor overlaid with fine gold or precious stones.