Cracked Jar of Clay
On our front yard we have a large red pot as a decoration. A few years ago the winter was very cold and as a result the pot cracked but held together as you see in the picture. With time this pot became very precious to us because it reminded us of 2 Corinthians 4:7 and this text describes who we are as redeemed people. "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."
Only a few times I have had the pleasure of actually watching a person on the wheel molding the clay to make out of it a beautiful vase, pot or jar. It is truly a work of art. Now that art has become available to watch on the internet. Here is a four minutes video showing an artist in action.
What I have not personally witnessed was what followed in the process where the wet vase or pot needed to be backed and stained or painted.
Perhaps in Paul's day, some potters upon discovering that a backed vase had a crack, and rather than throwing it away because it was useless, they put wax in the crack and painted it and sold it. Upon being placed in a warm area in the house, the wax melted and the crack appeared. Paul addressed in 2 Corinthians 4:7 the issue of integrity, honesty and vulnerability as the choice to have since our value is in the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives rather than in the shape and color and therefore we do not need to live a life of pretense.
In many ways this describes my life's story since my childhood. I am like that cracked jar of clay on our front yard. I have often put wax in the cracks of my life and tried to appear "perfect and all together" when the reality was something else. Finally in my senior year at high school in Lebanon, I surrendered my whole life to Christ who knew all about my cracks and yet he was willing to love me broken as I am. Since then on my life's journey the Holy Spirit has been dwelling inside that cracked jar of clay. At times I am so focused on the shape of the jar, or its color (my gifting, my education, my job) that I wax the cracks to impress people. At other times I remind myself of God's love and acceptance and I focus on the fact that God the Holy Spirit dwells within me. Even at my age and after all these years with Christ, my natural tendency is to wax the cracks in my life so that I will impress the people around me. I want to grow in being vulnerable so that the Holy spirit will glow through my cracks.
Last Christmas, we decided to place a bulb of light inside that cracked pot and at night it became for us a beautiful and meaningful decoration as you see at the top of this page. The light glowed through the cracks.