2 Corinth 4:7

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us" 2 Corinth 4:7

There is a quote by someone named Seneca, a person I know little about but these words really got to me. "Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power."

Sounds good. Certainly many men and women live by a creed much like that. The US Army used to have a similar phrase, "Be all you can be." Frank Sanatra sang a song with a harmonic theme, "I Did It My Way."

But let's take a look at that phrase and compare it to our Scripture Thought. "Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power." That means that the person with the most self-control, the most ambition, the most drive, is the most powerful. Someone else said it like this: "He who has the most toys wins." True or False? How many driven people do you know? How many of them are happy? Content? At peace? Oh, you can count them on one hand? No? Ah, one finger? No? OK. On a closed fist? Got you.

The most powerful are not those who are dependent upon themselves, according to Paul. It is the people who are vessels of God who have the most power. Why? Because the power of God is in them and works through them!

Let me ask another question. How many yielded vessels do you know? A few? One or two? How many of them are content? Happy? At peace? All of them? Most likely. Why? Because when they are yielded to God, when YOU are yielded to God, you are out of the picture and He is in control. And when God is in control of your life, you have nothing to worry about. Nothing to destroy your peace. Nothing to disturb their contentment. The simple fact is this. When God is in control, you are a spectator - of the most wonderful drama in the world. You get all the thrills, all the chills, all without the responsibility of failure, because God cannot fail.

Unfortunately, we all know far too few yielded vessels - and I include myself in that. We all are spending too much time being "captain of our own ships." We all find it hard to yield the controls of our lives to anyone. But this is exactly what we should be doing - as long as that "somebody" is God the Father. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.