Heavenly Treasure in Clay Jars

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."
-II Corinthians 4:7

One of my favorite characteristics of God is how He always seems to use the most unlikely sources to fulfill His plans. I'm reminded of many characters in the Bible - Balaam's Donkey, the harp-playing, giant-slaying David, Rahab - the prostitute who hid the Israelite spies, Paul - a vowed enemy of the early church who later became one of it's greatest leaders, not to mention Mary - a young virgin destined to be the mother of the Messiah. Talk about ironic.

He never ceases to "pull the wool over our eyes", so to speak. And just like it says in 1 Corinthians 1:27, "…God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise…the weak things of the world to shame the strong." Continually through history we see this very thing take place. In fact, He's still doing it today. God has entrusted the greatest and most critical message ever known to man…to broken, frail and highly unqualified human beings.

In II Corinthians, Chapter 4, Paul talks about this treasure we have in "jars of clay" (so, it wasn't just a cool name for a great band after all!). The treasure is the message of salvation by Jesus Christ, and those jars, are you and I - perishable, earthly containers. But Paul's focus isn't on the unfit state of the vessel. It's on the priceless contents, which is the power of God in us. In spite of our inadequacy, God chooses to spread His incredible love and Good News through us.

The NLT version breaks down verse 7 like this, "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."

I believe God delights in these ironies - the fact that He would place His perfect power in flawed vessels like you and I seems crazy. But at the same time notice the stark contrast - our weak, earthly bodies containing God's life changing power. We simply can't take credit for it - and so as Paul says, "this makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves." This knowledge should not only keep us humble, as we realize that the power is from God, but it reminds us to stay close to our Power Source.

Thank You, Father, that you've seen all our flaws and inadequacies, and yet you still choose to place your most precious treasure in us.