Harry Dixon Loes is credited with arranging and composing the music to “This Little Light of Mine” but the original phrase, “this little light of mine” was published in 1925 by Edward G. Ivins, and then all throughout the 1930’s the song pops up across the United States. The song was popular in the civil rights movement, in penitentiaries, and how it remains now as a children’s worship song. There are a ton of adaptations to the song but the one I am sure most of us recognize is this:
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine.
Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine.
Won't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel, NO!, I'm gonna let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel, NO!, I'm gonna let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel, NO!, I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Let it shine 'til Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine 'til Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine 'til Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
I hope you all enjoy having this song stuck in your head for the remainder of the day, but what does it have to do with treasures and jars of clay, right? I can’t say if the original writer of this poem was reading 2 Corinthians when he penned this tune, or if Harry Dixon Loes thought of it either, but as I read it, this song immediately came to mind.
2 Corinthians 4:7-12 reads, “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,”[a] 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, for we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”
You still may not see the connection between “This Little Light of Mine” and this passage, so let’s dive in. Paul is talking to the church in Corinth here, and we know Paul and the majority of the other disciples went through the wringer while sharing the gospel. Imprisonment, beating, stoning, slander, shipwrecks, banishments, you name it, they experienced it, and most of them died horrible deaths. But Paul’s message here is one of great encouragement in the face of all the adversity, one our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world need today as they face trials for their faith. A message we here in the States can look to as our faith becomes less and less “accepted”.
Paul talks about a treasure and putting that treasure in clay jars. The clay jars bought for just one or two copper coins in the Corinth marketplace were essentially bowls for wick lamps, a light source. They were cheap and fragile, but they got the job done. Friends, we are those jars. Unfortunately, I am frail, weak, common, easily broken; my human body has limitations, but that’s the way it is supposed to be! It’s not about the jar, it is about the treasure inside the jar. Jesus chose this commonplace household item to hold the most powerful treasure ever known to man. This jar has value beyond compare because Jesus equips it! All of this puts the focus not on me, not on the jar, but on God, on our Jesus, where it’s supposed to be. “For what we preach it not of ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
The treasure, I am sure you guessed, inside those jars, is the gospel! The Good News of Jesus. “to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” The treasure of life eternal spent with Jesus, God’s “all-surpassing power” (vs7) and true relationship with the Creator of the universe. He also truly gifted us the Holy Spirit. John 14:16-17 says, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.”
The treasure within us could be (and should be) spoken about endlessly, because it’s God’s great love for us. We all have earthly treasures, but Matthew 6:19-21 reminds us that we shouldn’t store up those earthly treasures because they are going to be destroyed one day. When we have Jesus within us, we have the most priceless treasure to ever exist, and we can continue to place this treasure in more “jars of clay” to further the kingdom of Heaven.
When our jars come under attack, when we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed, our jars may have a few cracks. Did you ever drop a plate or a mug but it only broke in one place so you glued it back together? (This was my dad by the way, puzzle king with broken mugs.) If you don’t have it quite right, liquid will get through the cracks. But the more cracks our “jars” have, maybe from years of trials, testimonies, valleys, and pits, the more light we can allow to escape. Even though the vessel may be under attack you can’t kill the light inside.
Friends, maybe you are in a place where you or someone you love once loved Jesus but has since walked away, their light has “gone out.” You are not alone, but I am convinced that we are in a season where the Lord is calling His children back to Himself, so I encourage we do not stop praying. I’m going to go way back for a moment to the Old Testament in Jeremiah 32. Jerusalem and Judah are about to be overtaken by the Babylonians but Jeremiah gets the opportunity to buy a field, this field already has enemy troops occupying it, but Jeremiah buys it anyway. He takes the deed to the field and as the Lord instructs (vs14) he puts them into clay jars so that they will last a long time. This is a representation that the Lord’s promise that His word is good and that their time in exile will only last for a season. One day they will come back to the Holy Land and “houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” (Vs 15) There is hope for the “clay jars” who have walked away from Jesus, His promises are good, He always has a plan.
In Christ,
Becca Drumheller
