Ornamental or Useful?

One of the things that has stuck in my spirit the most since Sunday's Potter message is this....

You probably know that once pottery has been formed, it has to be fired through a kiln...which is like an oven for pottery. Once it goes through the kiln it becomes hardened, strong, mature, and usable. If it does not go through the kiln, it is not even usable. Oh, and the hotter the temperature, the harder the pot becomes (Pottery is fired up to 2,000 degrees). Even if a clay pot sat out for 100 years and dried out, the slightest little bit of water would turn it back into a soft lump of clay.

If there is not a lesson in that for us, then I am not typing right now! Check this out...in the same way:

• We need to go through the fire to become usable, strong and mature. (James 1:1-3)
  
• The hotter the fire, the stronger and more usable that we become. So, remember that the next time that you are going through trials. The hotter the fire, the stronger and more usable you become. God must have a strong purpose for which He is preparing you!
• If we do not go through the fire, the only use that we have is to sit there and look pretty (if that)...to be ornamental.

So I ask you, do you want to spend your existence being ornamental or usable for God's purposes?