I’m a Pot, You’re a Pot – Part Two

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”  (II Corinthians 4:7).

Clay pots in the biblical era were actually large earthen jars, used for storage. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in such jars.

The ancient writer Plutarch described the victory of General Aemilius Paulus (167 B.C.) and his triumphant return home. As was the custom, victors returned in a triumphant processional. Great arches still dot Europe that were designed to celebrate certain victories. Through them the victorious army marched.

The Arc De Triomphe in Paris was begun by Napoleon as a tribute to his army. In Italy there are the Arch of Titus, the Arch of Trajan, the Arch of Constantine, and others.

The army of the defeated foe was paraded in disgrace. The treasures confiscated were often put in large clay pots and carried in the procession.  Paulus is depicted as returning with 3,000 men carrying 750 clay pots filled with silver coins.

In II Corinthians 2: 14 the concept of such triumph is used as an illustration: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ…”.

We are Jesus’ clay pots in which He deposits His riches.

What an item of value is contained in it doesn’t diminish its value. The content of a vessel enhances its worth. For a pot to contain that for which it was created gives it its greatest worth. 

In II Corinthians 13:5, the apostle Paul asks the Corinthian believers a question: “Or do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?” 

In referring to Jesus being in you it is not speaking poetically or metaphorically. He meant that Jesus Christ is literally dwelling within us.

Just like the Corinthians, we believers today need to realize this fact about ourselves. Christ isn’t outside of us as some kind of Helper in our time of need; He actually lives in us and is with us all the time. An abiding awareness of this gives assurance He dwells within us as a GPS to guide in the smooth sea and the turbulent tide. 

“Christ…lives in me,” clearly showing us that Christ lives in His believers. Because He lives in us, the Christian life is not a matter of trying to behave like Jesus, but of allowing Him to live in and through us.

Let Him guide you that you may daily live so as to reveal Him as a triumphant treasure. Let others see Jesus in you. Don’t just sing it, live it.