Everyday Pots
Opening Prayer
Father, thank You that You have entrusted extraordinary treasure to ordinary us.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-18
[7] But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. [8] We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; [9] persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. [10] We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. [11] For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. [12] So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. [13] It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, [14] because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. [15] All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. [16] Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. [17] For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. [18] So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What does this analogy bring to light?A 40 million-dollar house on sale last year included plates that cost an amazing 4,000 dollars each–perhaps not quite what Paul has in mind here! On the outside we might appear as nothing special, just everyday pots, the kind you chip and throw away. In chapter 1 of his first letter to these Corinthians Paul has reminded them that they are not wise or rich or powerful, but are ordinary people. I guess that’s just how we might think of ourselves too. Indeed, we might echo Paul’s testimony that we feel “knocked down, but not knocked out” (9), with a body destined for death, as was Jesus of Nazareth (10).But look inside, and there’s treasure: “the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (4:6). Because of this treasure, the same mortal life that gets crushed and perplexed is also the place where the risen power of Christ is seen. Indeed, it is precisely in this suffering flesh, even where we feel most oppressed, that the resurrection life of Jesus is made visible, and Jesus’ face is reflected most clearly in ours.
Apply
Let the knowledge of Christ in you strengthen you to turn today’s ordinary reality “to the glory of God.”
Closing prayer
Gracious God, help me to understand the unspeakable greatness of the treasure You have entrusted to me.
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