Love Your Church (3)

Wednesday, 28 March 2018

'We have this treasure in earthen vessels.' 2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV

Christians aren’t perfect! Here’s why:

(1) Because they’re human. Yet with full knowledge of our highest potential and our lowest inclinations, God loves us unconditionally. The Bible says, ‘We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.’ And guess what? Every time you meet treasure, you bump into the earthen vessel. An earthen vessel is just a clay pot, and when it’s cracked—it’s a cracked pot! That shouldn’t discourage you; it should give you hope and cause you to say, ‘If God can use that old cracked pot, He can use me too!’

(2) Because they’re spiritually depleted. The saying goes, ‘When your outgoing exceeds your income, your upkeep becomes your downfall.’ It happens to the best-intentioned among us. In the Old Testament a prophet told a story to the king of a soldier who was commanded to deliver a prisoner to a certain destination. His orders were clear: ‘Lose the prisoner and you’ll lose your life.’ The soldier lost his prisoner. ‘While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.’ (1 Kings 20:40 NKJV) The king, in pronouncing judgment on the soldier in the story, pronounced it on himself. So pay attention to your spiritual life and don’t let it get depleted.

(3) Because they’re asleep spiritually. It was while Samson slept that Delilah shaved the locks of power off his head and delivered him to his enemies. And it was while the servants slept that an enemy sowed tares among the wheat and the harvest was lost. Two things you must stay alert to are—sin and righteousness. ‘Awake to righteousness, and do not sin.’ (1 Corinthians 15:34 NKJV)