| | | | Cracked Vessels - 2 Corinthians 4:7 I remember when our children were younger (it seems like forever ago!), each year on their birthday we'd invite all of their friends over for a party. Mom would go all out with the cake, candles, ice cream, and banners. As the kids arrived, the presents would go onto the dining room table, all wrapped in colorful, festive paper. I found it interesting that when it came time to open the gifts, my kids would inevitably pick the brightest, most colorful gift to open first, probably thinking that the best looking container had the best gift! But it usually turned out that the gift they enjoyed the most, weeks after the party, was one of the unassuming, plain wrapped gifts.
Thats often true in life, as the best things often come in plain wrappers. Paul makes a similar point in 2 Corinthians 4:7, telling us:
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NLT)
See, clay containers were a poor mans utensil. They were cheap to make, cracked easily, and were worthless once they broke. And for some crazy reason, God chose a plain clay vessel, the human body of a Jewish man, from an unassuming family, the son of a carpenter, to wrap the greatest gift man has ever received: The promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. That fragile clay vessel contained the light of the world!
And God does the same with us. We are but fragile clay pots, yet inside of us is a great treasure, the light of Jesus Christ, shining in our hearts! And the neat thing about that is when we get hit, or pressed in, and we crack a little, what shines out is the light of Christ, which can be seen by everyone around us. Paul noted this in the next passage:
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 2 Cor 4:8-10 (NLT)
When you crack a clay vessel, whatever is in it will come spilling out. Remember that the next time you're pressed, perplexed, or even knocked down; While it might be painful, it's an opportunity for the life of Christ to shine bright to the world around you.
"Lord, help to shine bright with the light and the life of Christ in the midst of my suffering."
Pastor Clay | | | | | | | |
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