Filled Jars

Published: June 9, 2023, midnight

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:6-7\n\n\n\nHave you ever visited a bulk food store for groceries? More and more of these environmentally-conscious shops are popping up as a way to help reduce waste and save money. There are lots of items you can buy in bulk from big bins and dispensers, instead of buying these same items in small, disposable packages. In many cases, when people go to a bulk food store they bring their own glass jars or other reusable containers so they can get exactly how much they need and no more.\n\n\n\nThe other advantage of these kinds of shops? They also make grocery shopping really beautiful. Rows of big bins full of rice, beans, and pasta. Colorful crates overflowing with fruits and veggies. Walls lined with dispensers filled with golden\xa0honey, crunchy cereals, and dried fruit. Shelves with dispensers of things you can\u2019t\xa0eat but still need\u2014like liquid shampoo and dish soap. And finally, a cart full of glass\xa0jars as colorful as the store.\n\n\n\nWhenever I go bulk shopping, I\u2019m reminded of 2 Corinthians 4. In this Bible passage, Christians are compared to jars. Like a jar, none of us are complete unless we\u2019re filled. On our own, we\u2019re empty. We don\u2019t love God and others, and we\u2019re not\xa0able to save ourselves from sin and its consequences (Matthew 22:36-40; Romans\xa03:23-24; 6:23). For us to be complete, we need Jesus to fill us. Jesus is the only One\xa0who can save us from sin and death, and there\u2019s nothing we can do on our own to\xa0fill ourselves with His love and salvation. It\u2019s a free gift.\n\n\n\nSo, whenever I look at the jars I buy at a bulk store, I can see all the good things\xa0they\u2019ve been filled with, and I remember all the ways Jesus has filled us with His goodness and love by the power of the Holy Spirit.\xa0\u2022 Aurora Scriver\n\n\n\n\u2022 Read 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 and John 8:12. Even though we are \u201clike fragile clay jars\u201d (2 Corinthians 4:7), as Christians, how can it be comforting to know that Jesus is at work in us?\n\n\n\n\u2022 When we put our trust in Jesus, He fills us with His goodness. We couldn\u2019t do anything to earn the free gift of\xa0His love and salvation\u2014that\u2019s why He died and rose again so that we could be rescued from sin and death. His Holy Spirit lives in Christians, guaranteeing we will live forever with Jesus (Ephesians 1:14). According to\xa01 Timothy 1:14, what are some of the ways God fills us with His goodness? (If you want to dig deeper, read\xa0Romans 5:5-11 and Galatians 5:22-23.)\n\n\n\nWe 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 4:7b (NLT)