In this piece, we want to very quickly at: Treasure in Earthen Vessels: Wisdom for Singles, and Married Men and Women. Let us consider the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7, see what the Bible says, “But we have this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” The questions we want to consider are: what is this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure that we have? What are the vessels? And what is the excellence of the power that we are talking about? The Bible says, “That the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us”, that the glory we see is not going to be about us, not of us, but God. So, the Bible says “we have this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure” and the question is; what is this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure?
Now, in the Book of Genesis chapter 1 verse 26, the Bible says: “God said, “Let us make man in our image and according to our likeness, and let them have dominion” over this, over that. And in verse 27, the Bible says: “So God created man in His image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.”
In Genesis chapter 2 from verses 21-24, the Bible says:
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; a, and took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called] Woman because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
That “joining” is what we call in this piece, “this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure.” Becoming one flesh, that is called this ‘treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure’ in this piece. Because a man requires a woman, and God has brought the requirement to man, and the man has recognized the treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure or woman, and the man has accepted the woman into his life, and what has now taken place is called marriage. Do we understand? The Bible is also telling us that we also have this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure. This experience of a man leaving his father and his mother, joining his wife to become one flesh, which is called marriage, we have it as a treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure, but we have it in an earthen vessel.
Again, the Bible says: “and the two will become one flesh” When they become one flesh, the Bible is also emphasizing that they are made of earthen materials, and the earthen materials or vessels have now been joined together. The two will become one flesh. Another way we can put that in our context is that the two will become one earthen material or earthen vessel. Already, the Bible says “for this reason a man would leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.” And what do we call that today? Marriage! And when they are now joined together in marriage, it will no longer be about two, it will now become one; because the two vessels have become one flesh, one vessel. And the Bible says, “We have this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure that you could be called marriage in an earthen vessel.”
Of course, it's more than that, but in this piece that's what we want to use it for. We have this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure, this thing that is not made by us, no man makes marriage, it is the making of God. That is why the Bible says, “Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers, fornicators and adulterers God will judge” because God is the One who created marriage. So, we have this institution created by God, not because we are qualified, but because God has qualified us for it. We have this privilege to be married men or women, not because we have grown up as a people, but because God has chosen to help us and bless us with it. So, we have it. We have it in earthen vessels. Why? So that the excellence of His power, whatever that people now see in the marriage, is not attributed to a man or woman, but God.
The exploit of the husband and the wife in the union is not produced by any of them, it is produced by God in the union so that no flesh or vessel will boast. It is not about the container, it's about the contents. We have this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure in the vessel. Now, because there is no time. I would have loved to go into the implication of the earthen vessels that God has chosen to put the treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure inside. Because before we even think too deeply realize the fragility, the sensitivity, or the delicateness of the material called earthen, it can break, and when it is broken, it could become impossible or difficult to arrange together. Do you understand?
Beyond that, there are other limitations of the earthen vessel, it is not always neat. How beautiful can the earth be compared to other products that God could have used to make it? God didn't make us from Diamond and those other material that is very hard and very strong, and can’t break or glistering and shining, God chose to make us from the earth. From the things or material that we assumed to be dirty. So, if you have been made from a material that is not that glamorous, how come you think that as a man or a woman, the person you must marry must look glamorous or magnificent for you to accept the person as the will of God for your life? In fact, that is the spirit of this piece.
There are many people who are not married not because it is not their time to marry, there are many people who are not married because they keep telling themselves “I can’t marry you, you are not fine enough, you are too short, you are not tall enough, you are not short enough…” Some people don't even want tall people, while others are also saying, “I am a short man or woman, I want a corresponding person to marry.” Yet, this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure is put into an earthen vessel. And the Bible says: “Can the pot say to the potter why have made me like this?” Which one is important, is it the treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure or the earthen vessels? This is where we have to ask ourselves the right question.
In the marriage that God has created for me, what should I be looking out for, a glamorous wife or the will of God for my life? Do I want a woman with peace in marriage? Or I want a woman that everybody would think I'm fine, but I know in my house I'm dying? What is this important for us in marriage, is it the vessel; the packaging of the vessel, or the content of the vessel? So, for some of us that are telling God, “God, if you want me to marry at all, as if we're doing God a favor to marry, then the woman must be this, or the man must be this.” Begin to tell yourself that the treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure is more important than the earthen vessel that the body is made of, because even you also have been made from a similar material.
How can you who is also made of an earthen vessel begin to tell another, “I am holier than thou? I am more beautiful than thou, and so, if you're not as beautiful as I am, I cannot marry you.” There are many people in their thirties today that are looking for husbands and there is no husband to be found, yet when they were 21, 22, or about age 25, each year like five or six people came to them to ask them out for marriage, but all they could see was a man that has this, a man that that; or you're not fine enough. So, what are you looking for? Are you looking for the will of God or you are looking for the fine enough? The fine enough that will beat you every day, that will never think anything good can come from you.
So, this is important for us to understand. There are many men who have married women only to live every day in their marriages regretting, the beauties they called wives; because all that the wife has is the beauty that they can see, no substance inside; no maturity, no tolerance, no endurance, self-control. Battle upon battle, yet the wife is beautiful. Are you looking for a beautiful wife or you're looking for a good wife? You need to find a good wife. The Bible says, “He who finds a wife has found a good thing.” It's a good wife that gives you a good thing, not just a wife. This treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure that is marriage, we have it in an earthen vessel, you are not to glory self in marriage. If your spouse is beautiful or handsome, it is not because you know how to strategize, it is the doing of the Lord and there is nothing to glory about.
Don't glory about your husband's handsomeness or your wife’s beauty. What about the treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure, the purpose in marriage? The responsibility that God would have you and your husband to fulfill on the earth. You have the treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure, that responsibility in the earthen vessel, you have no need to boast in the vessel, but rather focus on the treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure. My prayer to God for anybody is “Lord, I want your will.” It is not about how the person looks. It is not about how the person talks. So much packaging, but little or no substance. You marry a wife that looks packaged but cannot even pray. Woe to that man because when adversity comes the best the person will do is to worry and panic, is that what you want?
This is time for men to begin to look for true help, not the packaging, not marketing, a woman that can help you; a woman that will carry the load for you. I was having a conversation with my wife at some point. You know, it is possible for us to begin to look at people who are struggling in life and to say “Oh, so and so person is struggling because they have a challenge.” Why we could blame people for their failures, especially for married people, it is time for us to start asking questions, what is the husband doing? What is the wife doing? A man that is in a problem has lacked help — because if you were helped all round, you wouldn’t be in that problem — help includes conversation; somebody giving you advice, somebody praying for you, somebody interceding for you. Help is everything; somebody that is saying, “well done my husband,” not somebody that is looking at you, and she is saying nothing good can come out of you; you are useless, you are good for nothing, that is not help.
So, before we begin to think a man is a failure because God created him to fail, we can start asking questions: has he married a beautiful wife or he has married a good wife? It is time for us to start asking questions and drawing cocorrelations. There is a direct link between a failed marriage and a failed man. If you fail in your marriage, you will fail in life. If you are failing in life before people begin to stone you that you're a failure, let them start asking questions about your marriage. Have you married a woman that is helping you? And if you're a woman, do you marry a man that has seen the good in you, and he is bringing it out, guiding you, and inspiring you? You need to start looking at those things.
There is something I normally say to people who have opportunity to listen to me. When I got married to my wife, it was not about money in my bank account, it was more about something else. One of them is vision. I can overwhelm my wife with visions from morning until night: I will talk vision to the point that she is not seeing money; she is seeing the future. What is it that will make a woman to say, “you don't have money but you have a future, I will go for you?” So, it wasn't about the earthen vessel, there was something else. It is time for men to start seeing help in the women, and not beauty. Is it because they say: “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”
You see, if God should bless you with love for somebody, even though the person doesn't look glamorous, the person will start looking it. When I proposed to my wife, she was like, No. And God was like, “don't ask me for husband because I've given you a husband already”; she was like telling God, “No, I don't feel emotion for him, I do not have affection for him.” God asked her, “Is that what you're looking for?” “Yes, Lord, I don't feel anything for this guy.” And the Lord said, “Don't worry, you will feel it,” and she testifies that under 24 hours, she could not sleep again. God overwhelmed her with affection for me until she said yes, I do. And she has been doing for the past 12 years. To God be the glory. It's not about “she looks pretty or he looks pretty.” There was money. There were people who were rich. I was not rich. There were people who were called, there were people who were anointed, they had all these things. She did not say yes to them, but she said yes to me. By the way, if I look handsome today, I was not handsome before. But she accepted when I was nothing, and I won’t remain at nothing forever.
There was something the Holy Spirit has taught us and it is that men get handsome as they age. A woman who understands that will not be looking at a skinny man now and concludes that nothing good can come out of him. It is not true. If you can help him very well, he will start having stature. He will start looking handsome and other women will be looking for him. For example, if I am looking for a side chic now, I will not struggle to get one. But if they saw me then, they will not say yes to me. That is the point.
So, please, don't look at how the man that is proposing to you look before you say no, go and pray, let God tell you, “He is not His will for you,” before you reject him. If a woman doesn't look it, don't be carried away by the look, be led by the Holy Spirit. I believe somebody is going to learn something from here. And if you have married the will of God for your life, you need to know, that you have this treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure in an earthen vessel; an earthen vessel can break, and get dirty; it requires care. Earthen vessels cannot move on their own, they require to be carried. So, it is time for us as husbands and wives to carry our spouses. If there is something your spouse needs to start doing, don't wait for him or her to start doing it because he or she might never do it, you need to help each other to have it done.
The words of a man, a husband to his wife are like directions. Don't think your wife is foolish that she's not doing anything; she is only asking for direction. She doesn't want a situation where the home will have two heads to avoid pandemonium in the home. Please, do the responsibility that God has committed into your hands; your wife is not foolish, that she's asking you what to do. And your husband that is looking like he cannot do much, it is not because he can't do much, he only needs more help. You need to wake up to your responsibilities as a woman, a helper. And as a man, be the leader that God has created you to be. It's not about looking for a better vessel; it is about making the treasure on CentreNDL”>treasure, treasurable evermore.
To God be the glory in Jesus’ name.
