Treasure In Earthen Vessels

The treasure is what preserves us. The presence of God in our lives is the sustaining strength to endure the hardships and pressures of this life. The treasure is the power within the vessel. If we neglect the treasure, we put ourselves in a dangerous place. There is a rest and refreshing in the Holy Ghost that we desperately need. There is a renewing that refreshes the treasure within us. That refreshing comes only from the presence of God. And I’ve come to tell you tonight that we need that rest! We need to spend time alone with God, we need to escape from the cares and toils of this life, on a regular basis, and find our way into the presence of God. There is a rest there that is necessary to our continued well-being. Just as surely as failure to sleep can kill the physical man, if we neglect our need for spiritual rest it will imperil our spiritual man.

Paul understood this, which is why he wrote, in the verse 16 of the same chapter, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” It was that daily renewal that kept the jar of clay from cracking under the strain. The reason he didn’t faint, or falter, or fail is because he was renewed day by day. The outward man, the earthen vessel, was strained, distressed and troubled. But the inward man, the treasure in the earthen vessel, was renewed day by day. It was the daily renewal that kept the man of God from giving in to despair and hopelessness. It was that much-needed rest and refreshing that he experienced day by day that enabled him to rise above the trouble and tragedy of his life. And it is that daily renewal that I am afraid that we are too easily persuaded to neglect in our personal lives.

We need rest. We can’t afford to neglect that need. This is the way God made us. Our bodies were designed, for reasons beyond the understanding of medical science, to operate well for 15-17 hours and then to sleep for 7-9 hours every day, without exception. If we ignore that truth we do so at our own peril. In February of last year a commuter jet crashed en route from Newark to Buffalo , killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground. The co-pilot and the pilot had only sporadic moments of sleep the day leading up to the crash and National Transportation Safety Board concluded that their performance “was likely impaired because of fatigue.

Physical fatigue is dangerous and that’s a truth that few will disagree with. However, what I want you to see tonight is that spiritual fatigue is just as dangerous. When you fail to find a place of spiritual rest on a regular basis you neglect the treasure in your earthen vessel and your ability to rise above the troubles and temptations of this life is impaired. How many people have lost out with God, given in to some tragic sin, or drifted away from God because they failed to recognize the importance of a daily renewal for their spirit. We need rest! We need a spiritual renewal!