What is the Condition of your Clay Pot?

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Being misunderstood because I was not willing to abuse alcohol with college friends….
Being ridiculed for not participating with co-workers in an after-work get together that included a visit to a psychic…
Being labeled “unsophisticated” by family members with a more progressive worldview…
 
These are some of the minor hardships that I have faced in living for Christ over the years.  As we look around us at the continued deterioration of Christian influence in our culture, it is easy to become concerned about the types of hardships we may face in living out our faith in the future.
 
 We will need to be overcomers.  And the good news is that overcoming is exactly what Christians are designed to do! 
 
In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul gives this description of what the experience of an overcomer looks like: 
 
Hard pressed on every side, but not crushed
Perplexed, but not in despair
Persecuted, but not abandoned
Struck down, but not destroyed
 
Paul makes it clear that God is the source of the strength and power that allows us to overcome.
 
This all-surpassing power is from God and not from us
 
If you have any doubt about that, just take a look at what God is working through in bringing the light of the gospel to the world.
 
...we have this treasure in jars of clay
 
What is a jar of clay?  Think about the common clay flowerpot. 
 
Clay pots are:

• Common - easily found at any hardware store and can be purchased for less than $1.
• Fragile - easily smashed into pieces and useless if broken
• Inconspicuous - our attention is drawn to the beautiful flower growing in the pot, rather than to the pot itself.  

Clay pots are nothing special, but they are purposeful in housing and displaying something beautiful to the world outside.   

​In spiritual terms, clay pots are the vessel through which the light of Christ shines into the world.  The light of Christ shines through our physical being as common, fragile, and inconspicuous as it may be. And all that is required of the clay pots is to be available and functional.

As a clay pot Christian, have you ever considered that your health habits have something to do with being available and functional for God’s use?

​If we neglect our clay pot by neglecting our health, we run the risk of becoming limited, both in our availability and in our ability to function.   The consequences of a lifetime of poor health habits may limit us in what we can do and where we can go.  

In your life as a clay pot Christian, are your health habits supportive of you being able to enthusiastically answer “yes” in response to God’s calling or next assignment for you?  

Some may resist giving serious thought to this question by making the argument that if God receives glory by fulfilling His purposes through humble clay pots, then the condition of the clay pot is irrelevant.  In fact, the more cracked the clay pot, the better, so that God can receive the most glory.  Putting this in human terms, neglecting our health is seen as an opportunity for God to be glorified by displaying His strength through our weakened state. 
 
This argument is similar to the one made by Paul regarding the contrast between sin and grace in Romans 6.  If the presence of sin magnifies the abundance of God’s grace, then why not continue to sin so that God’s grace can be displayed?  
 
But Paul emphatically answers, “By no means!”  God’s glory shines through our weakness, but this is not an excuse for sin and poor stewardship. 
 
As Christians, we are called to be overcomers.  Hardships will come, but through God’s light and power working through our humble clay pots, we can continue in our God-given assignments day after day. 
 
God provides the treasure - the gospel, gifts, and good works.
God provides the means to overcome adversity - strength and power  
God provides the clay pot - your physical being - designed to be both available and functional so that His glory can be displayed to the world through you.
 
As a clay pot Christian ministering to others, your health matters!
 
It matters because:

• Your good health habits enable you to be available and functional to serve when God calls
• Your good health habits enable you to be a full participant in the abundant life given to you
• Your good health habits enable you to show others what a vibrant life in Christ looks like
• Your good health habits are an indication of the practice of good stewardship of the resources God has given to you
• Your good health habits are an appropriate response to the loving God who created you and cares for you

​Good Health for Good Works Challenge:  In light of facing increasing hardships living out our faith in a godless culture, ask yourself these questions about your readiness to be an overcomer:
 
How are you stewarding the clay pot that God has given to you? 
 
How are you taking care of and maximizing whatever degree of good health God has given to you? 
 
Is the condition of your physical being making you available and functional for God’s use when He calls?
 
Has the neglect of your physical being placed limitations on your ability to say “yes” to God?

Stay Well to Serve Well!

Sources:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%204&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%206&version=NIV