We are right smack in the middle of canning season. My wife and daughter-in-law take all kinds of veggies, process them, and put them together to make vegetable soup. Then they put them in jars. Next there is a time of pressure to seal the jars for later use.
This reminds me of the Christian walk. It may not be in the same order of making veggie soup, but God brings all kinds of items into our lives. Times of suffering, rejection by others, lots of pressure and Paul talks about the sealing of the Holy spirit in our lives. (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13)
God even calls us His jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7–11 (NLT)
7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.)
The writer goes on to talk about the pressures and dangers of life, even deaths that are put in our beings so that we can show the world Jesus.
By: Pastor Steve Eicher
