Jars of clay

2 Corinthians 4:7-10
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Paul uses an interesting example to describe himself in this verse, Paul likens himself to a humble Jar of Clay. Through the Bible, God has used humble Jars of Clay to carry his all-surpassing power so that his name be glorified. The humble Jar dented and dinted with burnt marks out of the kiln is not pretty to look at but is ready to carry this treasure called the Gospel.

God has chosen individuals who did not have great talent, intelligence, strength, wealth or resources to carry his message. This is so that the individual carrying out God’s mandate is ever so conscious
that this is the work of God.

Paul always wondered why our Lord chose him to carry the gospel into the new world. God bypassed great men such as Herodotus, the historian, Socrates, the philosopher, Hippocrates, the father of medicine; Plato, the philosopher; Aristotle, Archimedes, the father of mechanics; Hipparchus, the astronomer; Cicero, the orator; Virgil the poet to leave an impact on this world like no one else could.

Have you heard about the Dead Sea Scrolls? This makes for an interesting read as to how precious dead sea scrolls were found stored in Jars of Clay in the Caves of Qumran.

A Bedouin shepherd Muhammed edh-Dhib while tending to his sheep, throws a stone in a cave and hears a cracking noise to discover few Jars of Clay.

Between November 1946 & 1947, Archaeologists work tirelessly to recover all the Jars from a site called the Caves of Qumran. This is possibly the biggest find to validate the authenticity of our Bible and the age of what is written in our sacred text.

These scrolls are now kept preciously in a museum in Jerusalem in a building which is shaped in a white dome shape and guess what inspired the shape. The Shape of the museum embodies the shape of the lid of the Jars of Clay in which this sacred scroll was discovered.

I think God has always been in love with Clay and Clay pots and the prophet Jeremiah is taken to the Potters house to show God loves to work with Clay as it is such a malleable material.

Jeremiah 18:4
But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Isaiah 45:9  Woe to him who argues with your maker, Does the clay argue with the maker, What are you making?

In closing, I wish to leave you with this encouragement; God wants to use your common talents and abilities to bring Glory to his name and all that he asks of you is, whether are you ready to carry his message?

Just as Clay is such a pliable material and God can mould you into any shape and fit for purpose, Will you yield yourself for a life of significance into in the hands of the greatest potter?

– Samson Thomas