A few Christmases ago, I decided to give Nicole a pair of diamond earrings for Christmas, but I wanted to make it a surprise. I bought an inexpensive jewelry box from the store, placed the earrings inside the jewelry box, and repackaged the jewelry box. When she opened the jewelry box, she had no clue that the earrings were in the box, until she opened it to look inside, and surprise! What better place for diamond earrings than a jewelry box?
Paul writes a different scenario in 1 Corinthians 4:7 saying,
” But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. “
This treasure, if it is a physical treasure, would appear out of place in clay pots. But this is not a physical treasure, it is a spiritual one, and Paul is describing us, the Christians, as these clay pots. How fitting, since from dust we came and unto dust we will return someday. But this clay pots bring God glory, because they are filled with a treasure – the treasure of the Gospel. In other words, all of the worth of the Christian is bound up in the Gospel in our lives. We are nothing on our – clay pots – but with the Gospel, with Christ, we are treasure bearers. Why such a mean and meager house, for such a great treasure as the Gospel?
Paul writes this is for the glory of God. It shows that all power, all worth, all glory, belongs to God and never belongs to the individual Christian, the jars of clay. May we not try to steal the rightful glory of the treasure, may we esteem the worth of the treasure valuable, and may we share the wealth of the treasure with others.
