Jar

“We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

– 2 Corinthians 4:7

I was struck by this verse as I was reading this morning. Like so often happens with God’s word, I swear that I’ve read that verse numerous times before, but this morning it struck me in a unique way. It is an unceasing amazement to me how many things can be found in even just one sentence of God’s word. Here are a few of the thoughts sparked by this verse;

Do any feel as if they are weak or inadequate? Do any lack the strength to complete the tasks we set before ourselves? Are there times that we are so tired that it seems as if we cannot go on? Are we not cracked, broken, and unable to put the pieces into place? Anyone who has lived on this earth long enough to be sick, tired, heartbroken, or angry knows what it means to not be all that they hoped they’d be. Oh, how often we fall short of our own hopes and dreams! If, somehow, we could sustain who we are at our best moments, life would be far different.

But no matter how hard we try, we can’t. John Mayer acknowledges this fact in his song Clarity, speaking of a moment when everything became particularly clear to him, saying “I will wait to find / if this will last forever / and I will pay no mind, when it won’t / and it won’t / because it can’t. It just can’t. / It’s not supposed to.” And should that be any wonder? As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, we are simply “jars of clay.” Do not be amazed when you fall short of the thing you aim at, or when, as you age, your body betrays your will. We are simply clay vessels.

On its own that fact seems to be merely an insult, but when combined with the rest of chapter 4 verse 7, there is shown a glorious reason for why God has made us to be so inadequate. The ESV version, which I quoted above, puts it in what I believe is the simplest and most accurate form. Why has God created us in such a way that we fall so short of even our own hopes? “To show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us”!

It is important to here note that this is true of Christians. It is Christians who are the clay vessels that contain the treasure here spoken of, and no others. Unless Christ’s life, sustained and evidenced by His Holy Spirit, are within you, you are merely an empty clay pitcher. My hope for any of you who may read this and do not know Christ is that you would see the sweetness and promise and hope that comes from being filled. Only there, when you fulfill your purpose of holding and exemplifying that treasure, will you find peace.

As Christians, our purpose as “jars of clay” is not to show ourselves to be beautiful or strong or worthy. How foolish would a man be to attempt to draw attention to a battered wooden chest and away from the beautiful gems inside? Such a thing would be ludicrous. Yet that is what so many on this earth attempt day in and day out to do; draw attention to the clay vessel and block people from the sight of the infinite treasure. Instead, my Christian friends, do as we were meant to do. Become less, that Christ might become more visible. Exult in the fact that you have been chosen to hold such treasure, and show the glory of what is within. Do not allow yourself to be caught up in the latest fashion trends, covering yourself in makeup, being in perfect physical shape, owning the finest possessions, or any other thing that will detract from the God who has made you His residence. To do so would be a very foolish thing indeed.