Earthen Vessels

Alright, I have been horrible at this blogging thing. I am picking myself up and back at it again. It has been a crazy summer. I can't believe it is already July. We had an amazing youth camp where it really seemed God worked in a tremendous way. As a church we continue to study through Judges and I am learning a ton. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the simplest most foundational truths are the ones I have to constantly come back to. In the last two months we have seen God raise up judges like Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, and we are getting ready to jump into Samson. One theme that has constantly been coming up with each of these leaders is the amazing thread of God's grace. God raises up the unlikely, the unworthy, the one who wont compete for His glory. What a great reminder in our day to day lives. It is not about us, but it is about Christ in us. Othniel appears to just be a normal guy only known for who he was related to. Ehud was a left handed apparently insignificant man. Shamgar (I still love this guys name) was an unlikely man with an unlikely weapon. In the story of Deborah we see how God takes a woman and uses her for His glory, and in that day to many men this would have been a shock. Gideon was afraid and hiding in a wine press when he heard God's call. Over and over we see how God loves to take the weak to confound the strong, to take the foolish to confound the wise.  When I take time and look over each of these people I am once again reminded of the insufficiency of man, but I am then pointed to the amazing sufficiency of Christ.   I think 2 Corinthians sums it all up.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; (2Co 4:7 NAU)

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!