Treasure in a jar . . .

Ever called someone a crackpot, or been called that? It isn’t such a bad thing! I’m not sure of the origin, but perhaps the term came from this verse:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

It really does not say the jars are cracked or full of holes, but to see the power of what is inside, there has to be some way that treasure can get out! Today’s devotional describes the process . . .

Tozer says that far too many Christians go through the motions of receiving the Holy Spirit — the treasure — by faith, but “show by their continued feebleness that they do not know Him in real power.” He adds that the way to reach that is “the hard way” and not as easy as many might think.

He also says that no one receives the Holy Spirit’s power without knowing it. The Spirit announces Himself to the inner consciousness but also shows the power of God in our lives. In my personal experience, simple faith works, yet there is a greater sense of this treasure being poured out of this earthen jar when all is yielded to God. It goes along with what Jesus called “poor in spirit.”

In my life, most things I do seem easily done without relying on the Spirit of God. I can be a home-maker and many other things in my own strength. However, when God removes or stifles that strength, I discover the treasure and my need for Him.

This week was a treasure hunt. My husband (and a strength for me) is away. My heart is in A-fib. My eye problem came back. To top it off, I was changing a blade in a cutting instrument and it attacked me, flying up like a frisbee and slicing off the top edge of my index finger like peeling a potato. My neighbor came quickly to help stop the profuse bleeding and bind it up. She took me to the medi-center in the morning.

All week, I felt helpless, even though I could still function (slowly and awkwardly), there was a strong need for God’s power. And He kept whispering to me: “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” I know that but feeling like a cracked pot isn’t very much fun. 

Yet it is easier to yield everything to God when I seem to have nothing, or very little. That said, I am aware that the yielding He wants and the filling of the Spirit He gives is not just for times of helplessness. It is for all the time. As Tozer says, “The essential condition of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is to yield everything to God, even the things that in themselves may be harmless.”

This is what it means to be a vessel, cracked or not. It is letting God have His way and letting Him shine in my life. Most of the time I will not be aware because this is not a self-observing thing. It is a God-glorying thing. The surpassing power is His, not mine. And if making me utterly needy works to make it happen, I must accept that!

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, I’ve noticed some remarkable things this week. One is that when I listen to classical music, my heart calms down. When I am in church and praising You, my heart calms down. The Holy Spirit, Your treasure, lives in there. My eye and my finger are on the mend. You have spare me any pain. I’ve worshiped You. Being settled with what You do with my life, including my body, is a good thing for jars of clay; it releases the Treasure.