2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
We carry the Lord’s treasure. Aren’t you glad about it? Another interesting translation of this verse is the New Living Translation: “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.”
2 Corinthians 4 speaks of our knowledge of the glory of God by our faith in Jesus Christ; even though its containment is in fragile vessels the Bible speaks of as jars of clay. This is referred to repeatedly as the “light” and “life” of Jesus. We see these blessings we carry recorded in the following verses:
vs. 4 – “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God”
vs. 6 – “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”
vs. 10 – “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body”
vs. 11 – “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh”
We carry his light and life in us. Hallelujah! As such, we can also know that we emit “rivers of living water” the Bible refers to as the Holy Spirit flowing from believers.
In John 7:38, Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” The light and life of God come from his Holy Spirit within us. We are now the temple of his Holy Spirit. Not only do we carry the Lord’s light of the knowledge of the gospel, but the life of the gospel.
When I think of a treasure, I think of the Ark of the Covenant. God’s instructions found in Exodus 25:8 were: “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them…” “Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites” (Exodus 25:21-22).
This glorious box, spoken of in the Old Testament of the Bible:
housed God’s spirit
had to be carried a special way by God-given instructions
brought blessings to God’s caregivers of the Ark
brought curses to the wrong guardians of the Ark
Now if you should wonder what the Ark of the Covenant might have to do with Christ, one vital message is: “For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory” (Colossians 1:27).
We must know how much God loves and thinks of us that he would allow us to carry his enlightenment and presence. We can be confident that “…His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3).
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,” (1 Corinthians 6:19/NLT).
Though I am grateful for all of the ways the Lord continues to provide financial abundance to His people, I’m reminded to embrace His perspective on the value of money. Almighty God who has all power and authority understands well what’s most important as relates to resources for His children. He has promised throughout the Bible to take good care of His own and encourages us not to worry about things such as what we’ll eat or wear.
Knowing who God is as much as we are able, should help us to feel a great measure of confidence in His care for us, as His children. He knows our propensity towards greed and misunderstanding of what is most important in our lives. As such, He tells us in Matthew 6:19-24 not to store up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where those things can’t reach them.
He also tells us that where our treasure is, our heart will be also. So one thing we can gather from this is our focus will be on where we’ve placed our treasure. Is it on heaven or earth?
The Lord goes on in this passage to remind us of the importance of our eyes as they are the lamp to our bodies and their health will determine the health of our body. How and what are we seeing: darkness or light? Are we discerning who we are actually valuing most: money or God? I have to ask myself this question often. We’re reminded we can’t serve both (which I’ve sometimes been inclined to wonder why not?) God answers we will be devoted to one over the other. If we have two masters, one will get more attention than the other. One will be loved more than the other. Same with God and money.
I asked God what it actually means to serve money, and He immediately led me to Luke 12:21: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” This was the result of the parable of the rich fool in Luke 21, who had such an abundant harvest thought, that he had no place to store his crops. So, after reaching a great increase, he’d tear down barns he had, build larger ones, then after years of great increase relax, eat, drink, and be merry–yet only to die unexpectedly.
So, it is to our advantage to remember that “A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.” It may not be held as the most popular wisdom of today, but Jesus warned us in Luke 12:15, to “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Thankfully, God has also provided wisdom in his word about saving money and how one should give:
“Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” (Proverbs 13:11)
“Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up…” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2)
“For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.” (2 Corinthians 8:12-13)
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7)
Though people within and outside the Body of Christ have debated long, with scriptures, over the paying of tithes today, we see that God has a great love for His church and we should be willing to support it.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10)
““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”(Mark 12:41-44)
Another observation I’ve made in scripture regarding giving is God’s strong passion for poor people:
“Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14)
Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. (Proverbs 14:31)
The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor. (Proverbs 22:9)
Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. (Proverbs 28:27)
In any event, God has given us many teachings on money and perhaps one of my favorite verses on it is, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) This means we’re set and don’t really have a care in the world. The Creator of heaven and earth is with us. We simply have to believe it!
Now I must mention that in this day and age, as was in the past, there are many charlatans, false prophets, and wolves in sheep’s clothing who use methods of intimidation, manipulation, and deception to steal from God’s people. However, again, remembering who is with us, listening to the Holy Spirit’s voice, and availing ourselves of God’s wisdom and knowledge through prayer and Bible study, will keep us in the way of truth.
In this, I’m also reminded of Matthew 23:1-3: “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” Reading this, it may be that we have some questionable leaders sitting in Moses’ seat in our churches. However, even when giving to God via those who may be hypocrites, as we receive the authentic word of God’s Bible from them, He will reward our actions of obedience.
In our giving we can rest assured that according to 2 Corinthians 9:10-11, “…he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
Our aim is a simple instruction in Luke 6:38: “Give and it will be given unto you pressed down shaken together and running over will men give unto your bosom.”
To all of this, my reply would be, Lord, “turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.” (Psalm 119:36)
Ms. Rita's Minute 