Cardboard Boxes
I slid the cardboard box in front of me so that all the girls surrounding me could see inside of it. We had already spent an hour playing Uno and singing worship songs, two things that I have found that these 18-21 year-old young ladies love to do. This was our third front-porch devotional, and we had spent the last two times talking about the value at we have in Christ because of his love for us. It's a message that all women need to hear, but especially these young ladies who live in a culture where women aren't worth anything except for their work in the kitchen and in bed.
I want them to know how valuable they are, how precious they are in the eyes of Jesus. That's why we've been talking about listening to God's truth instead of the lies of he world. That's why we've been teaching biblical truths about who we are in Christ. That's why we've also discussed modesty, purity, and believing God to provide a future husband. It's all related to our identity and our value. If we listen to God's voice and get to know him, we find who we truly are, and then it changes the way we live. It gives us value and makes us treat ourselves like we are valuable.
That's when I pulled out the cardboard box.
"Does this cardboard box really have any value?" The girls acknowledged that it did not.
"Not really. Somebody gave it to me for free when I asked for it. Things that are free normally don't have much value."
"Now," I continued, "Imagine that I took his box to a gold mine and filled it with gold." The girls' eyes got big at just the thought. Gold mining in Burkina Faso is a big deal right now, and these girls all know someone who has left for the big gold rush to strike it big and get rich quick. "Would it have value now?"
"Absolutely!" they all agreed. Why? Because now it contains something valuable, and it would not longer be free, but rather very expensive.
It's the same with us. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 teaches that we are "jars of clay", essentially cardboard boxes - just a simple container with no value of its own that can be easily replaced. But these verses also say that these jars of clay contain a treasure, and that treasure is the "knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
For all the young ladies and women out there reading this, you are a cardboard box with a treasure of matchless worth inside you. This treasure - the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ - is more precious than all the gold this world could ever offer. Because he lives in you, you have value. So don't go around thinking or acting like you come cheap or free. You are precious to Christ, and he bought you with the costly price of his blood. This is why purity, modesty, and waiting for a future husband aren't just rules that Christians have to follow; they are life-giving gifts and freedoms to enjoy because of our value in Christ.
I want them to know how valuable they are, how precious they are in the eyes of Jesus. That's why we've been talking about listening to God's truth instead of the lies of he world. That's why we've been teaching biblical truths about who we are in Christ. That's why we've also discussed modesty, purity, and believing God to provide a future husband. It's all related to our identity and our value. If we listen to God's voice and get to know him, we find who we truly are, and then it changes the way we live. It gives us value and makes us treat ourselves like we are valuable.
That's when I pulled out the cardboard box.
"Does this cardboard box really have any value?" The girls acknowledged that it did not.
"Not really. Somebody gave it to me for free when I asked for it. Things that are free normally don't have much value."
"Now," I continued, "Imagine that I took his box to a gold mine and filled it with gold." The girls' eyes got big at just the thought. Gold mining in Burkina Faso is a big deal right now, and these girls all know someone who has left for the big gold rush to strike it big and get rich quick. "Would it have value now?"
"Absolutely!" they all agreed. Why? Because now it contains something valuable, and it would not longer be free, but rather very expensive.
It's the same with us. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 teaches that we are "jars of clay", essentially cardboard boxes - just a simple container with no value of its own that can be easily replaced. But these verses also say that these jars of clay contain a treasure, and that treasure is the "knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
For all the young ladies and women out there reading this, you are a cardboard box with a treasure of matchless worth inside you. This treasure - the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ - is more precious than all the gold this world could ever offer. Because he lives in you, you have value. So don't go around thinking or acting like you come cheap or free. You are precious to Christ, and he bought you with the costly price of his blood. This is why purity, modesty, and waiting for a future husband aren't just rules that Christians have to follow; they are life-giving gifts and freedoms to enjoy because of our value in Christ.
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We hold this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
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