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Author: Martin Steinbereithner, from the Servants of the Word, an international, ecumenical brotherhood of men living single for the Lord.

Great Content, Deceptively Poor Packaging

In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul writes, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 RSV)

Paul has just inspired the Corinthians with a vision of the glorious message of the Gospel which has enlightened and transformed his life and their lives! But, immediately afterward, he focuses on the containers that receive this eternal message: we are fragile, imperfect human beings or, in his words, we are “clay pots”. It is as if a fine wine were served in a beat-up Coke can. Our being clay pots seems incongruous and could cause us to get discouraged, because we regularly feel as if our lives and our bodies do not do justice to the eternal Gospel we have received. But rather than getting disheartened we need to understand that while our outsides often look unimpressive or downright shabby, the presence of God keeps working on the inside, transforming and getting us ready for our eternal destiny. So what we need to do is look beyond the outward appearance to the invisible action of God in our lives and in the lives of others. While the outside is perishable and transient, the inside is eternal and very precious. Our bodies tend to remind us of our mortality, especially as we get older. Our souls, on the other hand are immortal.

Ask yourself today: “Am I able to look beyond the frustrations of my frail, human existence to the eternal destiny that God has prepared for me?”

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.