The Lord has a way to keep me grounded. Am I tempted to think of myself as the be-all and end-all, the epitome of what it means to serve in Early Childhood Ministry, if only my school or my congregation or my church body had more, of me! But we have this treasure in jars of clay. O insignificant jar of clay!

The Lord has a way to keep me grounded in him! Am I tempted to despair, to think of myself: “Not only is it I don’t deserve to serve the Lord in this way; I don’t even deserve to be called his child.” But we have this treasure in jars of clay! What a marvelous God—to entrust that treasure to you—first for you, and then to have it come through you!

Your God, the same God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

I think about how that God shines his light on you, how he displays his glory in the face of Christ, Sunday after Sunday:

• “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” and you are his, baptized into his name!
• “As a Called servant of Christ…I forgive you…” and that forgiveness is yours again this very day.
• And he speaks through his Word; he receives your prayers and your praises; he nourishes you with his body and blood, and he sends you out again with his word of blessing in your ears.

God’s glory comes in a way we would not always expect it nor how we would seek after it. God’s glory is displayed for you in the face of Christ. And we have this treasure in jars of clay. Thanks be to God—we have this treasure in jars of clay!