Sincere or Insincere?

Abraham had received the promise from God years before He spoke as recorded in Genesis 17:1: "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." In fact, so many years had passed that his faith was being challenged by the aging process of his own body as well as that of his wife.

Yet, we're told in Romans 4:20 that Abraham "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God".

Abraham, well advanced in years, heard from God who tells him three things:

• I am God
  
• Walk before Me
  
• Be thou perfect
  

If anything would make a man stagger, it would be the third phrase uttered by God . . . "Be thou perfect!" How can we be perfect? What does God really mean when He tells us to be perfect?

The word "perfect" actually speaks of "sincerity." To be sincere, not to be masked or to present yourself as something you are not. In ancient times, when someone would go to the potter's house to buy a clay vessel, they would take the vessel they chose and set it in the sun for a short period of time. The sun would soon reveal any cracks the potter may have tried to hide rendering it an "insincere" vessel—one that represents itself as whole when all the while it was a damaged vessel.

God wants us to be sincere, to be absolutely honest before Him. If there is a "crack" in our lives, He wants to be the Master Potter and repair it because any other repair job just won't do. No other potter's hands can do the work of the Master Potter.

Do you want to be whole and complete? Let the Master Potter mold you, make you, and repair you; let Him make you a vessel of honor unto Him, pure and blameless, whole and complete. Sincere. Perfect in His eyes.

Father, Master Potter, I present myself to you as a broken, crushed, and mutilated vessel, one that has been marred by the enemy. Make me new. Mold me, reform me, repair me, and make me complete, sincere, and perfect in Your eyes. Father, whatever it takes, take me and do what needs to be done that I may be that perfect vessel of honor unto You. Amen.

© Jan Ross
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