Simple jars of clay are formed in the dust and the dirt and used in the business of life. They aren’t beautiful; they don’t stand out as unusual on the outside; it’s what they hold inside that is of real value.
In spiritual terms, we are these little jars of clay. All I really am is a little person, sitting in the dirt, just loving my Lord Jesus with reckless devotion. On the outside, I am small and unremarkable, with not much to show for myself. But on the inside, it’s a whole other story.
I am made to carry the all-surpassing power of the One whom I love so deeply, and the good news is, so are you.
The treasure that fills me, making my heart overflow into the world around me, comes from God and not from me. I am nothing; He is everything. He made us to be receptacles for His glory, His love, His compassion, His grace and His mercy. All He wants is a place to inhabit.
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). When God fills us with His Holy Spirit, we are filled with love. He desires to pour Himself out through our lives, our jars of clay, into His world, which aches for Him. His all-surpassing power is given to us, not so we can hoard it for ourselves, storing it in a darkened room somewhere, from which it trickles out in small quantities. It is given to us to be splashed out in the light, for the joy of all people everywhere.
We can’t love God’s way without being filled with Him. If we try it on our own, we end up exhausted and burned out. I’ve done it; it doesn’t work. Only when we let His love pour into us and let it spill out from deep within us will His kingdom come and His will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.
Heidi and Rolland Baker are a husband-and-wife missionary team who have followed God’s call across the globe in answering the Great Commission. They are co-authors of Reckless Devotion, from which this article is adapted.
