“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” (Heb. 13:15) If something is broken you have three choices, you can fix it, replace it, or forget it, I see no other options except one, to keep it.
If it can be fixed and it is thought of as a necessary item, then it should be repaired, but when it becomes apparent that the item can no longer be repaired, and it is deemed necessary then it must be replaced. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Eze. 36:26)
We are not necessary to God, we serve no purpose that He cannot fulfill within Himself, we, along with everything else were created for one purpose, His pleasure. (Rev. 4:11) And suffice it to say, we are broken, we do not need to be fixed in such a way that we will become necessary to the Most High, but He has deemed in His infinite mercy to give us the opportunity to be fixed, to be repaired in such a way that we can be pleasing in His sight. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
It is God who decides who will be fixed and who will not, the verse is self-evident and quite clear, it is God who calls us and what He is calling are broken vessels who can in no way repair themselves. This is the fallacy of every imagination and intent of the sinful heart of man, that by some works that we present to the Lord we will be accepted, that some deed we do, a continuation of “good” thoughts, of purposeful actions on our part will make us acceptable to the Lord. If the Almighty does not call a person to Himself, that person will not be coming to Him, it is impossible. Those He does call and chooses are repaired, they are given faith, they are hid in Christ, they become by the transforming of their mind by the power of the Holy Spirit chosen vessels for the glory of God.
We willingly, and then by our own accord agree with the Holy Spirit and begin to offer those sacrifices of praise. We no longer seek our own vainglory, we stop trying to pretend that we were never broken, and we begin to exert the free will that all men have for His glory. Broken vessels cannot repair themselves, the glue of works for salvation does not hold anything together. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)
Few there are that can differentiate these truths, no one has ever decided to seek God, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” (Romans 3:11) All who have come to Him have come because He has called, none have chosen God, those who have been chosen have been chosen by Him. “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14) “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.” (Romans 9:22)
There are vessels that will be forgotten, they will not be repaired or replaced, “The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.” (Prov. 10:7) This also is God’s decision, though it goes against every construct in the minds of men. The faith of works for salvation is a deception that many have fallen into over the centuries, in fact it has been expounded on dramatically by our adversary. “You’re not good enough for heaven, but if you work hard enough, if you offer your life and time to Him by good deeds, self-sacrifice and the following of certain traditions you can and will be accepted.”
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10)
To enter into heaven you must be without sin, you must be righteous, and no man has or ever will be able to do this. Many have deceived themselves into believing that works will be pleasing to God and then they will be saved, but they will forever be broken vessels, only God can repair that which is broken, only He alone decided who will be in His Kingdom and who will not. From that point on in your life, you will be the one that decides how much of you, you are willing to freely offer to Him.
