Here and There

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20

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

Like all Christians, I like, yes even look forward to the very thought of spending an eternity in heaven. I will see my Saviour there, and I will also see special family, friends and loved ones. What’s not to like? That’s the ‘there and then’, but what about the ‘here and now’?

I was reminded by a recent visiting pastor that while we ‘await’ our eternity in heaven, we must live our lives in the best way we can, before shuffling off this mortal coil. But we are imperfect and flawed. We are sinners only saved by grace, and in the sight of a Holy God. How then can we live up to the standard of our promised Holy eternity? The truth is, we can’t. We are human, and live in jars or pots of clay. As I was reminded, some of us are ‘crack(ed) pots’, or sometimes seen as crackpots by those who look on.

Our jars of clay, these human, earthly bodies, host a treasure, and we should never lose sight of this. Our ‘pots’ may be getting old and cracked, but our treasure within is perfect. Our job is simple. Use our plain, ordinary lives to point to Jesus within. After all, our body will fail us, but the treasure we hold is pure, eternal and Holy. That is what must be seen. So while we wait perhaps even impatiently for eternity, let us show this unfailing treasure within to all we meet. We just need to be transparent. Can you and I do this small thing in the ‘here and now’? Look at it this way, we need those cracks to let the inner light of our treasure to shine through. Looks like being a crack(ed) pot isn’t such a bad thing after all!!