Tents And Jars

We have all been around people that think they are wonderful.
They are the ones who talk about themselves the majority of the time.
They will always have a better story to tell and a bigger adventure than yours.
They are not pleasant to be around.

Ego is a tricky thing!
We have worth simply because we are made in His image.
All the Glory is His…we merely reflect Him to a dark world.

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
(Romans 12:3)

We pride ourselves on our achievements.
We pride ourselves on our beauty.
We pride ourselves on our salvation…even though that one is harder to admit.

In reality, we bring nothing to the table that He has not enabled us to bring.
Everything we bring to the table, He has given to us.
Everything we have…everything we are…belongs to Him.

Our society does not want to hear that.
With our “pull up your boot straps” mentality…I can do it myself, thank you very much!

But there is such a thing as the wilderness.
God has been known to drive people there.
The Israelites…His own Son.

The wilderness is a place where we discover how much we need God.
It is not a place we get out of on our own.

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.” At once the Spirit sent Him into the desert, and He was in the desert forty days being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels attended Him. (Mark 1:9-13)

In direct response to Jesus’ baptism, after God the Father audibly declared the Son-ship of Jesus, the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness.
There, Jesus learned how much He needs His Father.
That time of vulnerability is exactly when Satan chooses to strike.

The Israelites traveled through the desert for two sets of forty years.

The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (Exodus 16:34, 35)

The Israelites didn’t believe God’s promises.
They didn’t believe the good reports of the two spies sent out to explore Canaan.
They believed the other ten spies…the nay-sayers.
God sent them again into the wilderness.

For forty years, one for each of the forty days you explored the land, you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have Me against you. (Numbers 14:34)

We think we are something…that we know better than the promises of God.
We are only simple jars of clay.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Simple clay that the Potter formed with His own Hands.
Simple jars of clay…that are treasures to Him.
That should put everything in perspective.

We are to take care of our bodies.
We are to be good stewards of what God has entrusted to us.
However, our body is just a tent.
It is a portable dwelling for now.
It is temporary…until we get to our new Home…when we will be clothed with a new body.

I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
(2 Peter 1:13)

Tents and jars.
That is all we are…externally.
Internally, we are being renewed…being made into the likeness of Christ.

Tents and jars are what we bury in the ground.
They are perishable.
The soul…the imperishable internal…is what is being renewed.
The mortal for the immortal.

Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Tents and Jars…in the wilderness…learning how much we need God.
How can we be anything but humble before Him?