Today's verse is as motivating as it is convicting as we continue our “Note to Self” series. This may take longer than I expected, as a few things have come to mind, but if you remember from part one earlier this week, we’re dust and God knows it and He has compassion.

Paul himself said that we have this treasure inside these bodies, these jars of clay, to show that the power belongs to God and not to us. Now, compare what Paul said to something I read on a picture quote recently where someone boastfully warns, "Before you judge me, step into my shoes and walk the life I'm living, and if you get as far as I am, just maybe you'll see how strong I really am."

I admit, I'd love to hear Paul's graceful response to such a charade, because if the most influential man this side of Christ knew anything, He knew where his power and strength came from and from where it didn't. Can you imagine Paul talking about how strong he is? And yet, you and I battle with pride about it. We try to convince ourselves and each other that our bodies aren’t broken. (Word to the faith and fitness communities…our bodies are broken.)

But today's verse is also a comfort, not simply because of the physical metaphors of hardship, but for the reason to get up at all. "So that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." See -- to Paul -- surviving the shipwreck or sustaining the beatings weren't so much as death-defying as much as they were life-revealing.

And to think, you're a jar of clay. So am I. A malleable, bendable, fillable and spill-able jar of clay. I know some days we feel more like a piñata than a Godly jar of clay, but if you hit a piñata hard enough, what happens? Others get the treasure inside. And that's what I get from Paul. He bled Jesus. He bled the treasure.

Wow.

I know where I was when I became clay.

The white, outdoor chairs outside The Garden Tomb were warm from the sun. The tour was almost over and the next day would be our last in Jerusalem. When our Pastor began reading of those six hours on Friday, it was as if I felt my skin for the first time.

Stooping inside that ancient tomb, I was Thomas seeing scars.
I was a flat-footed Peter looking at my feet on the waves.
I was the woman at the well.
I was both the mocking criminal and the soon-to-be saint.
I was Bartimaeus after receiving his sight and the rich young ruler afraid to part with his toys.
I was an arrogant Saul blinded by grace. 

By the time Pastor read about the third day and the stone being rolled away, I had become a malleable mess. My frail, little body was merely a few feet away from where Jesus made it well with my soul. And when I took communion in that garden, Jesus wrote a note in the dirt and I became clay.

So dear friends, let's invite others to step into our shoes and live the life we're living. And when they get as far as we've gone, maybe - just maybe - they'll get to see exactly just how strong we're not.

--Jimmy Peña

For Discussion: This series isn’t over. The jar of clay typing this sentence has been known to lose his wallet, his keys, and his health; to say nothing of his daily sins and filthy rags of good deeds. But I’ve said it before. Getting up from a trial doesn't reveal our strength. The fall reveals that. Getting up reveals God's grace. That’s why when I wipe the dust off my back, I can’t pat.

As we end this week, what are you thanking God for today? Any praises? What has He given you enough strength to continue? As for me, I have one. You're reading it.

The PrayFit Run
May 2nd, 2020
Stoked. Look at all this goodness. What a blast. A 10K, a 5K a 1-Mile Walk-N-Roll, music, pancakes, an expo, awards for top finishers, pancakes, t-shirts, goodie bags, pan..wait. OK, fine. Pancakes for everyone! And a side of scrambled....legs? (Stop. Just stop.) The 3rd Annual PrayFit Run on May 2nd, 2020. Join us. Sign-up now and fundraise. (Virtual Option Available. Click here.) Let's do this again.