Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 102 · April 12
Earthen Vessels
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
You are more aware of the cracks in yourself than of anything good that might be inside.
Paul has just described the treasure he carries: "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." In the very next sentence he describes the container: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Earthen vessels are ordinary clay pots. In Paul's world they were the cheap, everyday kind that you replaced when they chipped. Paul gives the reason in the same breath, so nobody has to guess: the weakness of the pot shows that the power belongs to God.
Father, I have been asking You to make me a better container, and You have said very little about that.
You put the light of the knowledge of Your glory, seen in the face of Jesus Christ, inside ordinary clay on purpose. You did it so that whenever anything holds, everyone can see whose power is doing the holding. Keep me from spending this week apologising for the pot. Let "the excellency of the power" be of You and not of me. Let it show in the places where I look least impressive and feel weakest. And where I am chipped and tired and plainly not equal to what I am carrying, let somebody see through the crack to what is really inside. Thank You that because the treasure is Yours, I can be "troubled on every side, yet not distressed." Amen.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 102 is Eyes Set for Good (Jeremiah 24:6).