FanStory.com - The Clay Potby John Cranford

Dear God,
I come to You this morning, as I do each morning, with humility and gratitude. I almost feel You find me boring because I begin each day the same way. It's just I find it overwhelming that You could use me, of all people, with all my warts and scars. I'm such a flawed individual.

But then again, You have always used flawed individuals to be Your hands and feet in spreading Your Gospel to the world. The father of faith Abraham, the lawgiver Moses, the apostle Paul, the abrasive Simon Peter, and even the man after Your own heart, king David, were flawed and imperfect. Yet You used them to herald the coming of the One without flaw, the unblemished Lamb, who You sent to suffer and die on the Cross to save this sinful world.

Lord, I don't presume to be counted among those whose lives are described in your Holy Word as the greatest stalwarts who ever lived. If I were asked to put pen to paper and write down all the great things I've done in my life, I would have to lay the pen down next to a blank page.

We all want to do great things, to be remembered as someone who made a difference in our lifetime. I've learned over the years that that desire can be misplaced and misguided. I've learned to live life by the words I once read on a gravestone: "I've tried to do the duty that lay nearest me, and to leave whatever Thou didst commit to my charge a little better than I found it." All You ask of us is to, "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God."

And now for the "gratitude" part, dear Lord. Your most precious gift to me is the relationship You've given me with Your Son Jesus Christ. Your Holy Spirit brought Christ to live within me. Whatever circumstances in which You place me, He is there. Sometimes they may seem like drudgery, but He influences every decision I make, large or small. Sometimes I stumble, but when I return like a penitent child, He is always there to forgive me.

Jesus said He will use us as His vessel through which He will pour His "living water" to reach others in His quest to save the entire world. So, dear Lord, I am most grateful that I am not a chalice of gold or silver to serve the rich and famous to quench their worldly desires. It is with utmost gratitude that I am Your lowly "clay pot" through which You bring others to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

It's in His name I pray, Amen.