Each of us has a unique calling, one given by the Divine Intent of Our Heavenly Father. When we walk in this calling, we are deemed vessels of honor. Our calling should produce fruitfulness of Love, life, and growth. As we pursue our calling, we will be tested with many distractions. Those distractions come in many forms. They may be generated by our own ego or they may come from external sources such as other people who are walking as vessels of dishonor. It is up to each of us to identify those distractions and deal with them, ultimately removing them from influencing us.
In the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the devil attempted to distract Him. Three temptations were presented to challenge His calling. Thankfully, the devil failed to tempt Jesus from fulfilling His calling. This challenge was designed to derail the calling before it could come to full fruition and cause Jesus to question His entire existence. The devil used Scripture in a twisted manner as part of his attempt to manipulate the path of Jesus. Further, he attempted to stroke the ego, hoping to find a weakness to exploit. A distraction will typically find your inherent weakness and exploit it until you succumb to the temptation of redirecting your focus.
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
Jesus warned us of false prophets. How do you know if they are false prophets? Jesus tells us to look at their fruit, we are called to be fruit inspectors. False prophecy causes us to become focused on some future event that never occurs. In the meantime, we do nothing, we produce no fruit ourselves. Our calling goes dormant. If you are constantly awaiting some event to occur and your focus has been placed solely on that event, you will not mature in your calling. You have simply deferred the maturing process. I remember the booklet “88 Reasons for the Rapture to occur in 1988”. It didn’t happen, it was false.
Matthew 9:3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”
4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
Jesus, the epitome of Love, called a spade, a spade. He did not condone or enable evil. Love responds in a righteous manner and exposes evil when necessary. A challenge to your calling is another form of distraction. Men who are envious and walk according to their lusts will challenge your calling in an effort to justify their own actions. They will rationalize their own thoughts by using some Scripture to attack you. They will judge you, convict you, and sentence you based on their own self interests. Jesus discerned their hearts.
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
One of the insidious methods of distracting a calling is to use man’s legal system in a corrupt manner. In the U.S., lawsuits abound. Men use the legal system to intimidate others into submission. This is just another form of manipulation. Doesn’t the false prophet manipulate those who have itching ears? Men think the legal system is the best way to right a wrong. However, Our Heavenly Father’s methods are more effective and HE knows the thoughts and intents of men. In the end, HE will appropriately deal with them.
Vessels of Honor are vessels of Love. We may have functioned as a vessel of dishonor in the past (or even the present), but there is hope. The potter has authority over the vessel of clay. HE doesn’t destroy the vessel but judges it, breaks it down, then remolds it into a new vessel, able to be productive and fulfill the purpose of the potter. Don’t let distractions keep you from fulfilling your calling. Once identified, it may be necessary to remove the distraction from your midst. At any rate, you must not let anything compromise your fruitfulness. Let us all fulfill our calling and be fruitful in every good work.