Journal Entry ~ 01/28/19

27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. - Colossians 1:27-29

So if our charge is to open the eyes of people in our lives who don't see His truth, why aren't we doing more of that?  Most people, including myself, would say they feel inadequate to share the gospel. We don't feel we know enough, or we can’t say it eloquently enough, so we stay quiet. We worry that we may be challenged and not know the answer, so we don't even open the can of worms. 

That is such self-focused thinking. Worrying about what to say means we want the glory, it means we want the knowledge or think that we have what it takes to open the eyes of those people and save their souls. How very arrogant of us!  We do not have the power to save - that's not how God designed the plan. 

He made us clay pots so that He would get the glory. If we look to 2 Corinthians 4:7, we see Paul explain our role in sharing the Gospel. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. - 2 Corinthians 4:7. What is the treasure Paul refers to in this verse?  It is the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the gospel with it's light-giving power in our hearts. We are the jars of clay, the treasure lives within us. Paul refers to us as jars of clay because compared to the beauty of the treasure that lives within us, we are nothing more than jars of clay. 

This very truth means if you feel inadequate in your ability to share your treasure, you are closer to the truth than someone who feels powerful and wise. Paul wants us to realize we are clay pots "to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."  God’s aim is that his own power through the gospel be honored, not us.

All this means that if you feel inadequate in your ability to share the gospel, you are very the person God is looking for—a clay pot, who simply shares the treasure of the gospel. He’s not looking for the eloquent person who is knowledgeable or confident in their ability - those people have painted their pots to appear beautiful so they get the recognition, but miss that the treasure is meant to be inside a simple clay pot. When the Truth is presented by someone who is humble, God can do His work through the gospel, and the surpassing power will belong to Him and not to us. We should be encouraged in our inadequacies. We have been appointed precisely for who we are to share the greatest work in the world: showing the Treasure of Christ.  


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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