The Earthen Vessel's Treasure
THE EARTHEN VESSEL’S TREASURE
‘Twas just another vessel, crude and plain,
Yet something drew me to it once again.
One last look at its patterns and designs,
The patterns that it wore so plain and fine.
Its usefulness, no better than its mates;
I knew not how long it sat there to wait.
It had just sat there quietly on the shelf,
Not mumbling or talking to itself,
Or wondering what good that it could be
Or if someone would come and pay its fee.
And I, intrigued by its shape and design
Did not give it its shape or style so fine,
Nor did it know it met my curious gaze
Or if I’d stopped to view it many days.
It seemed to wait there with no sense of pride,
But when I stopped to take a look inside,
A sudden burst of joy rushed through my mind
As there a valued treasure I did find.
How many had passed by this very place
And seen this vessel with its rugged face
And turned as if they wished that they could hide,
But never took a curious glance inside?
Quite true, I may not ever know,
But since I took the time this place to go
And look the vessel over carefully,
A richer man from there I came to be.
I learned that treasures often are well hid,
And one must do the searching as I did,
And also that the search has its reward--
And then I knew my Savior, Christ the Lord,
Had seen a plain, old vessel on the shelf
And wanted it to use then for Himself.
He looked beyond the faults and all the nicks
And saw it something that He knew He’d fix.
He looked inside and saw a valued soul
For which He’s shed His blood to make it whole.
Oh yes, He saw a value there in me
That I with all my wisdom did not see,
And had He not been loving, true, and kind,
And willing just to take the extra time
To look beyond my sinful, dirty self
There sitting on display upon that shelf,
I may have never found a cause to trust,
I may have ever sat there in the dust.
But since He saw that treasure that abides
Within my inner vessel, deep inside,
He now has used that treasure there in me
And cleansed me so I could more useful be.
His earthen vessel’s treasure on that shelf
Was just my humbled heart and willing self
To be just what He’s bought me there to be,
No more, no less, but treasured pricelessly.
If that old vessel that I found that day
Became of worth to me in that small way,
Then how much more of value now am I
To Jesus who for me did bleed and die!
I’ll give Him my earth’s vessel, be it plain,
And let Him use its treasure once again.
Copyright © Clarence Billheimer | Year Posted 2019
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