False teachers were infilitrating the church after Paul left and were challenging his authority. What I find interesting about this verse is that it is a part of Paul’s defense of his ministry to the Corinthian church. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” The jars of clay became valuable because of what was placed inside them. Food, water, and various treasures were then stored in the jar of clay, making it useful. A potter took the time to make the clay, and form it into a container that was ordinary and fragile. In Biblical times, the same was true of jars of clay. The cardboard box became valuable to me because of what I placed inside it. I purchased it, filled it, sealed it, and labeled it. The box didn’t come to me first asking to be used. I trust it to protect the treasures within it, even though I realize that the box, itself, can be damaged. We use the simple to protect the treasuredĪs I sat in the middle of a sea of moving boxes last week, I realized that I put alot of faith in a simple, ordinary, cardboard box. (mice-yikes!) Despite the chaos and tears, I learned a valuable lesson…

Our temporary house came complete with a broken swamp cooler and additional residents. I will be honest, it was pretty stressful.

Jars of clay who we are instead