One of the most profound experiences I had was at the Boise Art Museum (BAM) looking at jars. Yes, Pots. (I have told this story many times.)
The artist had blown jars of various shapes and sizes and covered them with layers of paint in different colors. Then he took a knife and scored them exposing the various colors creating woodland scenes with trees, animals and sky. They were beautiful, even more so because he added light inside which shown through the scoring.
Every place where the artist had dug deep with his knife, the light was bright. The deeper the cut, the brighter the light. As I stood there looking at these jars and watching the video about how they were made, I saw a visual representation of a verse in 2 Corinthians 4.
“Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.” [vs 4:7 HCSB]
We have the treasure of the New Covenant within us. We have the light of Christ within us. We have the Holy Spirit within us. All that creates an “extraordinary power” from God. And because of that power, Paul goes on and once again reminds us that – We Do Not Give Up!
“Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.” [2Corinthians 4:16-17 HCSB]
This old earth jar may be falling apart, but boy, what is inside (that extraordinary power from God) is an absolutely incomparable eternal treasure!
