Today’s readings: Deuteronomy 5:1-22; 2 Corinthians 4:1-12; Luke 16:10-18

Have you ever dropped a ceramic cup onto a hard floor? Clay can be molded, shaped, glazed, and fired in a kiln to make a useful and beautiful item. If you are not careful, when handling a cup, it can break and no longer hold what it was designed to hold. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he compares the light of Christ that was poured into our hearts at baptism to a treasure being held in a clay jars—our mortal selves!

The Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered at Qumran, held a treasure of Scripture that was preserved for thousands of years in clay jars. Yet, despite what this treasure held for scholars and the faithful, the true value of the scrolls was not the ink applied to papyrus, parchment, or copper, but the life-giving power of God’s word that can live in us when we assimilate this Living Word.

In your flesh, a believer like you can carry the immense presence of God. If you and I will assent to it, we can carry the life of Jesus to others. Saying “yes” to God’s Word is to make his words a ministry of presence wherever we go.

Prayer: Living Christ, help me to carry the treasure of your new life to those I encounter every day. Amen.

Today’s devotion was written by Randy Conley, Pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Hubbard Lake, MI.

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