2 Corinthians 4:6-7:
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
God created light simply by speaking it into existence out of the nothingness of dark. He also shines his big ol’ flashlight into the dark recesses of our hearts and souls so that we can see his glory, so that we can know him. That’s so amazing. We have such tiny little human minds, and can so easily have hardened hearts. But he gives us himself so that we can recognize “the face of Christ.”
That’s so hard for me to understand. He gives himself to me. He is part of me. He lives in me and through me. If I keep my clumsy, tongue-tied self out of the way, his glory will shine through me. Others will be able to see him in me. But there’s the tough part: keeping myself out of the way.
I know I’m not that great on my own. I am a perfectionist living with the fact that I can’t ever be perfect. I often say exactly the wrong thing and still don’t have a rewind button for the stupid things that come out of my mouth. I worry, usually about ridiculous things (though really, if we believe God is in control, why worry about anything? But that’s for another post). I have had my share of really big screw-ups. So you’d think it would be really easy to get out of the way and let “Jesus take the wheel”, as the song says.
But it’s not easy. I tend to take stuff back from God. I let him have the “big” stuff and I keep the “small” stuff. But I manage to mess up the small stuff and it turns into big stuff. I read a great post yesterday about a little girl beginning that toddler stage of wanting to do it all herself, so she says, “MyDo!” That’s such a great reminder that when we don’t let God have control, we’re just like stubborn toddlers.
So this verse reminds me that I’m not that special on my own. I’m a clay pot, and a clay pot isn’t worth much, just sitting enpty on the shelf. But there is one thing it’s good for: it can be filled with valuable oil. Then it becomes something of value, and even begins to absorb a little of that valuable liquid into itself so that it even smells like the fragrant oil it contains. That’s what I want to be. A little clay pot full of the treasure of Jesus Christ, beginning to have the fragrance of Christ.
That’s so hard for me to understand. He gives himself to me. He is part of me. He lives in me and through me. If I keep my clumsy, tongue-tied self out of the way, his glory will shine through me. Others will be able to see him in me. But there’s the tough part: keeping myself out of the way.
I know I’m not that great on my own. I am a perfectionist living with the fact that I can’t ever be perfect. I often say exactly the wrong thing and still don’t have a rewind button for the stupid things that come out of my mouth. I worry, usually about ridiculous things (though really, if we believe God is in control, why worry about anything? But that’s for another post). I have had my share of really big screw-ups. So you’d think it would be really easy to get out of the way and let “Jesus take the wheel”, as the song says.
But it’s not easy. I tend to take stuff back from God. I let him have the “big” stuff and I keep the “small” stuff. But I manage to mess up the small stuff and it turns into big stuff. I read a great post yesterday about a little girl beginning that toddler stage of wanting to do it all herself, so she says, “MyDo!” That’s such a great reminder that when we don’t let God have control, we’re just like stubborn toddlers.
So this verse reminds me that I’m not that special on my own. I’m a clay pot, and a clay pot isn’t worth much, just sitting enpty on the shelf. But there is one thing it’s good for: it can be filled with valuable oil. Then it becomes something of value, and even begins to absorb a little of that valuable liquid into itself so that it even smells like the fragrant oil it contains. That’s what I want to be. A little clay pot full of the treasure of Jesus Christ, beginning to have the fragrance of Christ.
