HIS PRICELESS TREASURES
God has determined to accomplish His goals here on earth through men with weaknesses.
Isaiah, the great prayer warrior, was a man just like the rest of us. David, the man after God's own heart, was a murdering adulterer who had no moral right to any of God's blessings. Peter denied the very Lord God of heaven—cursing the One who loved him most. Abraham, the father of nations, lived a lie—using his wife as a pawn to save his own skin. Jacob was a conniver. Adam and Eve turned a perfect marriage arrangement into a nightmare. Solomon, the wisest man on earth, did some of the most stupid things ever recorded in history. Joseph taunted his brothers in almost boyish glee—until the games almost backfired on him. Jonah despised the mercy of God toward a repentant people and wanted to see an entire city burn to justify his prophecies against it. Lot offered his two virgin daughters to a mob of sex–crazed Sodomites.
The list goes on and on—men who loved God, men who were greatly used by God, almost driven to the ground by their weaknesses. Yet, God was always there saying, "I called you; I will be with you. I will accomplish My will—regardless!"
One of the most encouraging Scriptures in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 4:7: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Then Paul goes on to describe those earthen vessels—dying men, troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast down. And even though never forsaken or in despair, those men used by God are constantly groaning under the burden of their bodies, waiting anxiously to be clothed with new ones.
God mocks man's power. He laughs at our egotistical efforts at being good. He never uses the high and mighty but, instead, uses the weak things of this world to confound the wise.
"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 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; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not . . . that no flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Corinthians 1:26–29).
God puts His priceless treasures in earthen vessels because He delights in doing the impossible with nothing.
Isaiah, the great prayer warrior, was a man just like the rest of us. David, the man after God's own heart, was a murdering adulterer who had no moral right to any of God's blessings. Peter denied the very Lord God of heaven—cursing the One who loved him most. Abraham, the father of nations, lived a lie—using his wife as a pawn to save his own skin. Jacob was a conniver. Adam and Eve turned a perfect marriage arrangement into a nightmare. Solomon, the wisest man on earth, did some of the most stupid things ever recorded in history. Joseph taunted his brothers in almost boyish glee—until the games almost backfired on him. Jonah despised the mercy of God toward a repentant people and wanted to see an entire city burn to justify his prophecies against it. Lot offered his two virgin daughters to a mob of sex–crazed Sodomites.
The list goes on and on—men who loved God, men who were greatly used by God, almost driven to the ground by their weaknesses. Yet, God was always there saying, "I called you; I will be with you. I will accomplish My will—regardless!"
One of the most encouraging Scriptures in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 4:7: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Then Paul goes on to describe those earthen vessels—dying men, troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast down. And even though never forsaken or in despair, those men used by God are constantly groaning under the burden of their bodies, waiting anxiously to be clothed with new ones.
God mocks man's power. He laughs at our egotistical efforts at being good. He never uses the high and mighty but, instead, uses the weak things of this world to confound the wise.
"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 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; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not . . . that no flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Corinthians 1:26–29).
God puts His priceless treasures in earthen vessels because He delights in doing the impossible with nothing.