Fragile Clay Jars
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
- 1 Corinthians 1:26–27
I read the other day that a 1964 Aston Martin sold for $4.6 million. Why so much? This Aston Martin had been driven by the character James Bond in the films Goldfinger and Thunderball. The car has some pretty cool features: guns that poke through the tail lights, a license plate that rotates, and best of all, a passenger seat capable of ejecting its occupant. None of these features actually work, however. But this is a car from the James Bond movies, and more specifically, it was driven by Sean Connery as James Bond. Although it is a cool car, the value is not in the car itself. The value is in who drove the car.
As believers, our value in us is God, who takes residence in us. We are reminded in 2 Corinthians 4:7, "We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves."
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When we look at Jesus' disciples, men that God used, we are reminded they were approachable. They were flesh and blood. Consider their backgrounds: They were outsiders to the religious establishment of the day. They spanned the political spectrum. At least four of them were fishermen. One had been a zealot, someone who was dedicated to the violent overthrow of the Roman government. Another was a former tax collector, someone who was working with the Roman government. Under normal circumstances, a tax collector and a zealot would have been at each other's throats. But instead, they were called to be on the same team, to love one another, and to change the world.
The disciples were common people that God used. And their faults and foibles, as well as their triumphs and victories, are faithfully recorded in Scripture for us to learn from.
