This past year my daughter gave me a lovely little invention called a Patio Egg. It is an egg-shaped ceramic vessel in a cute little macrame netting for hanging it. It is at the same time decorative and useful. It’s functional purpose is to rid my patio of those arch-enemies of any Southern girl – mosquitos! It is a simple invention really: fill the egg with the correct amount of the oil mixture and hang it up near your outdoor eating area. The porous ceramic absorbs the oils and gives off the aroma which drives away those pesky creatures for weeks to come. A pretty decoration, a light scent, and no villainous bugs!

My analogy today is very straightforward. We are that egg – that earthenware vessel. God saves us and cleans us up. But do we become just a pretty decoration or do we prepare ourselves to be used for the purpose He created us for? That preparation for us, like those oils measured into the egg, is the Word of God pouring into us, Almighty God leading and directing us, the Holy Spirit filling us.

Who prepares that egg for us? We do. We prepare ourselves. Everyday.

We immerse ourselves in the Word each morning. We continue constantly in prayer daily to seek to obediently follow the leading and directing the Father gives. We open our hearts to the filling of the spirit and allow it to seep through us saturate us, and change us as we absorb the scent of the Holy Trinity. We are then able to give off the aroma of Christ to all those around and to fulfill the purpose we were created for. But the filling, the aromatic essence, and the purpose are achieved only when we prepare our clay pot. Scripture tells us:

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For 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. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:5-10

We carry this treasure in jars of clay. When we know Christ, He infiltrates every bit of us, He consumes us. We carry Him around with us everywhere. He fills us with His light and in turn we give off that light, that sweet aroma of Jesus, revealing the Gospel of His death, resurrection, and life in the very way we live out our lives. Even in those times we are in despair. When we’re crushed and devastated. When we feel abandoned and beat down. Our hope in Christ bears witness to a hungry world even when we are at our lowest points.

What is your jar of clay, your Patio Egg, like? Is it dusty sitting in a long-forgotten corner? Is it chipped and broken and feeling useless? Is it polished and shiny and beautiful, just sitting on a shelf offering no real value? Is it unfilled, offering up only a pretty decoration with no effect on its environment? Or is it full of healing oil, filled with the Word, shedding the light of Christ wherever you go, offering hope and grace and mercy to a dark and desperate world? Sit in His presence and allow Him to fill you and saturate every pour of your being! Then go! Be light!