Light in earthen vessels

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. – 2 Corinthians 4v6-7

Have you ever seen a light fixture where the fixture gets the attention and the light is secondary? I think of chandeliers that I have that are spectacular whether they are lit or not. For our 25^th anniversary one of our children gave us a pair of Waterford Crystal candle holders. We don’t even light the candles in them. As I look at them now they are beautiful and capture my attention without being lit.

On the other hand have you ever noticed the most functional lights? Whenever a task needs to be done and light is required a simple device is used to carry a powerful light. I remember crawling under houses dragging a beaten, battered, and dirty drop light with me – but the light shone on the task at hand and let it be accomplished. I think of mechanics lights that are cheap, covered with grease, and battered, but they do their job and the light is clear.

Paul uses a similar illustration to teach a marvellous lesson for us today. “God commanded the light to shine in darkness. He shines in our hearts and we are to give out that light. But He uses cheap, common, every day clay jars to shine that light so that the excellency of His power might be seen instead of us.

We are more like the lights I used to drag under houses than the crystal candlesticks. When I was back in the corner of a dirty crawlspace hanging ductwork I really didn’t care what the light holder looked like – all I wanted was the light. The excellency of the moment was in the light, not the holder.

May I be content to be that old, beaten, and battered cheap drop light instead of the expensive crystal candlesticks safely put away on the fireplace so that the excellency might be in His power, not mine.