Jars of Clay
I have been reflecting on 2 Corinthians 3:17–4:12.
2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Freedom to do what?
Freedom to be all that I was created to be—to walk with God, to be in fellowship with God, and to worship God.
I have recently been struck by the truth that walking alongside believers as they go through challenging times is both an opportunity and a privilege. It is an opportunity to remind myself and others of 2 Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay. . . .”
The treasure we each have as believers is the Spirit of God in us. It is the power at work in us regardless of the outward circumstances of our lives—the things that are pressing us, the things that are perplexing us, the situations that are making us feel alone or perhaps abandoned, the issues causing us to despair because we have no idea how they will be resolved, and the areas of our lives in which we may have recently experienced failure.
In each of these circumstances, can I pause to reflect on the truth that the Spirit of the living, mighty God is alive in me? Only when I do that can I truly worship.
As I reflect on the Spirit in us, I am reminded that he gives us freedom from the lies and thought patterns that keep us from fully worshiping the Lord “in Spirit and in truth.”
What are the things that have hindered you this week from living in the spiritual freedom that allows you to worship the Lord fully?
- The basic biblical reason for wanting to solve your personal problems should be a desire to enter into a deeper relationship with God and to please him more effectively through worship and service.
- You should desire, above all else, to become more like the Lord and to live in subjection to the Father’s will, as he did.
- Your overriding goal in every circumstance should be to respond biblically, put the Lord first, and seek to behave as he would want you to.
2 Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
God could have likened us to a glass vase, a ceramic bowl, or a metal vase, but a “jar of clay” speaks to our fragility—something easily marred. A jar of clay speaks of a potter holding and shaping the jar. It speaks of his eye being on the jar. It speaks of intentional and focused creation by the potter.
Flower vases do not decide what kind of flowers go in them. The owner does. Flower vases do not decide where they are placed. The owner does.
The Lord has chosen to place his Spirit in you and me. Outwardly, we may not seem like much, yet because he has chosen us—these “jars of clay”—we are invited to reflect his glory to those around us. God says of us in Isaiah 60:21, “The work of my hands, for the display of my splendor,” so that his life may be revealed in and through our mortal bodies (2 Corinthians 4:11).
We often do not see ourselves the way God sees us: as his beloved, fully loved, completely accepted, and the apple of his eye. Instead, we are easily given to discouragement.
I invite you to meditate on these two passages of Scripture. My prayer is that your spirit will bow down in worship as you experience the power of these truths.
2 Corinthians 4:7–9
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
2 Corinthians 4:16
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
God is tending his jars of clay, continually bringing forth things that bring him glory and displaying his splendor through you. Why? So that we can continually worship him in freedom from the depths of our being.