Beautifully Cracked

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When I was in high school, my favorite class was ceramics. I loved, loved, loved molding clay into something beautiful. One of our first assignments was to make some sort of pot that would hold water (i.e. had no holes). I worked for days on a green pot that I couldn’t help but be proud of. The time came for it to be painted and fired. I got to class just in time to see my teacher pull the finished product out of the firing kiln and what did I see…a big stinkin’ hole right in the middle.

2 Corinthians 4:6, 7
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness”, made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. We have this treasure in jars of clay…”

In this passage, Paul talks of clay pots…a subject in which I felt well versed. I immediately imagine jars of clay that are old, scratched and beaten. These jars, while still in one piece, have holes and cracks that reveal their imperfections. If you turn these jars upside down and place them over a burning candle, what would happen: The light shines through the cracks. I can’t help but notice how quickly the light burns out when the cracks are not there.

The lives we lead are full of holes. We crack our jar every time that learn something. The way I see it, cracked jars can only be one of two things: empty or full of light.

The Lord embraces our holes. He looks at our brokenness and sees only light. When the brightness shines from something torn, it means that a mistake was made that led to something amazing.

Clay pots – is yours filled with light or just empty space?