The trash man’s house sits atop a steep street in a poor Bogota neighborhood. Not one thing about it looks special. Yet the unassuming abode in Colombia’s capital is home to a free library of 25,000 books—discarded literature that Jose Alberto Gutierrez collected to share with poor children in his community.
Local kids crowd into the house during weekend “library hours.” Prowling through every room, each packed with books, the children recognize the humble home is more than Señor Jose’s house—it’s a priceless treasury.
The same is true for every follower of Christ. We are made of humble clay—marred by cracks and easily broken. But we’re entrusted by God as a home for His empowering Spirit, who enables us to carry the good news of Christ into a hurting, broken world. It’s a big job for ordinary, fragile people.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (v. 7), the apostle Paul told his congregation in the ancient city of Corinth. A cross section of people from across this region, many might have been tempted to “go around preaching about ourselves,” Paul said (v. 5
Instead, Paul said, tell others about the priceless One living inside of us. It is Him and His all-surpassing power that turns our ordinary lives into a priceless treasury.