THE TREASURE IN JARS OF CLAY

Last summer my wife and I bought a great number of pots in order to separate an aloe plant that was growing crazy. As we headed back home I had to make one quick stop. After I dropped her and the kids off at home I went to take some materials to the county fair. I forgot that these pots were round and might roll around a little bit in the back of my Suburban. When I opened the back hatch, they came tumbling out on top of me. The one very large pot that my wife like so much (it was the last one in the store) rolled out first and broke on the concrete drive. And just like that I had a mess and a pot that, I thought, was beyond repair.

When I got back home I was a little hesitant in telling my lovely wife of 16 years that I broke this pot. But I could not in all good conscience blame the kids, so I told her. She went out to the vehicle and retrieved the damaged goods and actually was able to salvage the one that she liked so much. Now you might ask, how did she do that, and did it not look awful? Maybe at first, but once she cut away at it and then placed a plant into the pot, no one noticed. The reason that no one ever noticed was because of the life or treasure inside the pot.

This reminds me of what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 4:7, "we have this treasure in earthen vessels." That treasure is the preaching of the gospel of Christ. What is more important, the gospel or the person? Paul argues that the most important is the gospel. He writes, "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord," (2 Corinthians 4:5). I have heard preachers talk more about themselves in a 30 minute lesson then that of the gospel. This is a sad commentary on that preacher. He needs to re-read 2 Corinthians 4:5. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and that you may glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Jesus did not say that we shine our lights to glorify self. In fact the light is not even of us. John wrote, "God is light..." and that I must walk in that light (1 John 1:5-7).

So, let us always remember that we have a treasure on the inside of the jar of clay. When we preach this then we are ministering with the message of God.