Treasure in Earthen Vessels

As vessels of God, we each come in our own unique form, created for God’s own unique purpose,  with varying gifts and abilities.  Our personalities are as different as our fingerprints. Like the VeggieTales character assures us, “God made you special!”  That’s what I’ve been emphasizing from the very first post on this blog.

We all have one thing in common, however; we are made of the same material…we come from the earth.  No matter how exalted a person becomes in this life, how well known, how well off; in the end he returns to the dust from which he was made.  That is a humbling thought, and one that Paul used in 2 Corinthians 4:6,7:  “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

I like how The Message translation words it; “if you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us.”

So if your melodious voice can reduce your listeners to tears, if your sermons can bring the vilest sinner to his knees, if crowds of people gather round your paintings, their mouths agape with awe; remember,  you are just the earthen vessel containing God’s treasures.  I do believe we develop and perfect the gifts God has given us; it may take years  of practice to become an accomplished pianist, for example, but the gift of music comes from God. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights…” says James 1:17.

I have always struggled with feeling inadequate or inferior around others who are more accomplished in a certain area than I.  When I was younger, I was intimidated by those more popular or better looking.  On the other hand, I sometimes have to rein in those prideful feelings.  I’ll be honest.  I have gotten many good comments about this blog, and I have to remind myself that I am the vessel that God is filling with Himself.  It’s not me. I am taking the time and effort to write it, but any gift of writing I may have comes from God.

I want to bear in mind when either the feelings of inadequacy or the feelings of pride surface in my heart, that I am an earthen vessel, just as you are, just as the most notable celebrity in Hollywood is, or the President of the United States.  In the end, we are all equal;  “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”  Ecclesiastes 12:7 Death is the great equalizer.  I’m sure that’s not an original thought, but I just grasped the significance of it.

So we’re just dust, lumps of clay that God formed into a vessel of  His design.  How humbling!  Oh, but how reassuring is the verse that I hold dear:

“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth (has compassion on) them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”  Psalms 103:13,14

God made me,  so He knows me better than I know myself.  He knows my feelings of inferiority and my feelings of superiority.  I tell him I’m sorry when those feelings surface, and He has compassion on me.  When I mess up, I cling to this verse.  I don’t care to think of myself as dust then, knowing that God will take that into consideration.  In fact, I’m quick to remind God of this very scripture from time to time…”Now God, you know I’m just dust.”

So I continue to strive for perfection, never quite reaching that blissful state, but secure in the knowledge that I am the work of His hand, made of dust, but filled with the treasure of the knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ.

“But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”  Isaiah 64:8

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