A Treasure in Jars of Clay

My wife and I have (among other things) two daughters: 8-year-old Delaney and 3-year-old Peyton.  In very unsurprising news, they LOVE to dress up as princesses.  They share a trunk full of costumes, tiaras, billowy skirts, wands, and sparkly shoes.  

Perhaps more than with any other item, I will be anguished when that trunk someday leaves our house for another, younger family.  The items in that simple box have transported the girls all throughout their tiny worlds, dancing, singing, spinning, and laughing. 

Not long ago, on a drizzly Saturday my patience wore thin when I went into Delaney’s room and found what looked to have been a dress-up trunk explosion.  Every inch of the room was lacey, sparkly, and pastel-y, and dad was not happy.      

I got down on my knees and shoved everything back into that little box.  My irritation gave way to curiosity, and ultimately to joy, when I discovered what an astonishing volume of dress-up material fit inside the box.  It was like pouring water into a bottomless glass.  After a few minutes of stuffing, Delaney’s room was all magically – it seemed – back in the box.    

One of my most earnest daily prayers is that God would help me know – intimately, practically, powerfully the reality of Christ’s Spirit living in me.  We are a jar of clay, the apostle Paul says, inside of which God stores a treasure (2 Corinthians 4:7).        

And Paul also says this in Colossians 1:

25 I have become (the church’s) servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously

contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

May we be inspired by this today: that the Spirit of a wondrous God lives in us.  May our thoughts, actions, speech, and attitudes -- like the contents of that dress-up trunk -- color our world with love and joy.