CONTINUALLY DEPENDENT!

CONTINUALLY DEPENDENT!

2 Cor 4:5-7

5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

          Can a smile become a trademark? Can a particular booming voice become a name brand? We live in a day when preachers and churches have tapped into the advertizing world. We are now marketing ourselves, our churches and our gospel. Packaging has become of utmost importance and, while we were polishing the packaging, we were neglecting the product.

          Our vessel is deliberately simple while our treasured content is sublime. The most important aspects of the vessel is that it be clean, empty and available for service. Clean because the gospel is pure. Empty because the gospel fills the vessel completely and because nothing must dilute or pollute the gospel. The vessel must also be available. If the vessel is on the shelf, it is there because it stands ready to be used and not because it has been discarded. At a time suitable to the master it will be taken down again and filled.

Not only must we focus on the treasure and not on the vessel, but we must also focus on the Master and not on the servant. If we suffer, it is for Jesus' sake. If we die to self, it is so that the life of Christ might be revealed in us. If we go through trials, it is so that Christ might be glorified. And all of this is for the sake of others. As we serve Christ, death works in us - but life works in those to whom we minister. Dr. John Henry Jowett said, "Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing." He was right. A pastor friend and I once heard a young man preach an eloquent sermon, but it lacked something. "There was something missing," I said to my friend; and he replied, "Yes, and it won't be there until his heart is broken. After he has suffered awhile, he will have a message worth listening to." (from The Bible Exposition Commentary.)

1 Cor 1:27-29

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Dear Master, fashion my jar on your wheel and gild it not. Let me, by my simplicity, become a fit vessel for the great treasure of the gospel. AMEN