2 CORINTHIANS 4:7 – “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
THEME OF THE DAY: BROKEN JARS OF CLAY. I was reading a book on weakness and the Christian life. Within the pages, the author referred to a very interesting form of Japanese art called Kintsugi. It is defined as “the repairing of broken pottery by joining pieces back together and filling cracks with lacquer dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, thereby highlighting the flaws in the mended object.”
The brokenness of the original pottery is not ignored, put aside, or tried to be hidden. Just the opposite. It is on display and actually embraces the imperfections showcasing the beauty coming forth from the repairing of the brokenness.
A spiritual application is easy to see and so encouraging. In today’s scripture, the Apostle Paul identifies all believers as jars of clay. These jars of clay are not works of beauty in and of themselves. No, they/we are weak, cracked by sin, broken because of bad decisions, and marred by emotional, spiritual, even physical hurt. Yes, we have the treasure of the Gospel in us, but we are first “cracked jars” in need of gospel repair, and God in His wisdom “fills in the cracks” of our broken lives, like Kintsugi art with gold, silver or platinum, with the preciousness of His grace, love, and power.
One of the great devotional writers of the eighteenth century was J.R. Miller. Concerning broken things, to include broken people, he wrote eloquently, “Christ is building His Kingdom with earth’s broken things. Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling earth’s broken lives, and there is not a bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain and sorrow and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth’s saddest failure up to heaven’s glory.”
Downcast and failing Christian, don’t despair. God isn’t finished with us or consider us washed up due to our many sins and failures. Remember Peter. God specializes in taking broken jays of clay and restoring them to a beauty far greater than the original. And He specializes in mending broken people and making them fit vessels for the Master’s use. He has done so throughout out all history because the only people available for Him to repair and use are broken people. There are no other types.
So, take courage. These words are still true – “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28), and all things include our brokenness.
PRAYER: Father, I praise You for taking me as a broken jar and forming me into something of beauty for You.
REFLECTION: The only people God uses are broken people because that is the only type of people there are.