God took his time to make each one of us with unique characteristics so that, in Christ, we might do the good works he prepared for us to do so as to bring glory to the Father (Ephesians 2:10 King Jimmy Translation).
In the water-pot pottery world, fierce competition exists among the pots for superiority. Some pots think they are better than other pots because of their painted exteriors or shapely forms. Other pots believe they are privileged because they were baked longer or created from a better-grade mud.
This is the story of Yang and Yo, two five-gallon water pots. Each was kilned to the exact degree in the same furnace and beautifully painted with intricate Chinese detail by the same creator. They appeared identical, yet one suffered a flaw. Yo was cracked.
An old Chinese sage lived in a remote mountain village. Every morning and evening, he placed Yang and Yo on each end of a pole that he placed across his shoulders and carried them to the bottom of the mountain to fill them with water from the stream. While he arduously walked up the mountain carrying the full water pots, something was happening. Yo leaked water. This wasn’t an occasional drip, but a constant drip-drip-drip. By the time the master reached the top, Yo was empty.
Yang relentlessly criticized Yo. “You are useless, Yo. The master can’t use you; Yo’s a cracked pot!” Yang delighted ridiculing Yo. “We sit all day in front of the mirror. See how perfect I am—but everyone can see you’re cracked. Yo, you leak!” Yang laughed. “You’ll never be on the cover of Pottery Fair.” Yang even questioned the sage’s wisdom for using Yo, knowing how broken he was. Yo fell into depression and contemplated jumping off the pole and shatter himself on the mountain side.
On their journey to get water one day, Yo said to the master. “Why don’t you just get rid of me? I’m of no use to you. I leak badly and waste the water you work so hard to get. You can do more with another perfect pot like Yang, who isn’t flawed.”
The master stopped and set the pots down. He picked up Yo, and held him to his bosom. “I knew you were cracked when I purchased you. The merchant thought he pulled a fast-one on me, selling a cracked pot for the same price as a perfect one. I gladly paid that price for you.” The master looked at the crack in Yo. “But I had a purpose for you. I searched for a pot with a flaw, a crack, because I needed you for a special assignment. You were perfect for what I needed.”
“Really, master?” Yo said. “I had no idea.”
“Let me explain,” the sage said. “We make this journey twice a day, In the morning, you are on my left side and in the evening, on my right. Do you know why?
“No, master,” Yo said.
The master, embracing Yo, looked down the path to the stream. “Before I purchased you, I planted flower seeds along the path to the stream. When we come up the mountain, you think you are leaking but you are actually watering the seeds I planted along the path, causing them to grow. Your purpose is to water what I have planted. Have you noticed how the flowers look forward to the water you give them?”
Yo was astounded. “I try so hard not to leak, yet I can’t help it.” He felt vindicated. Yo faintly smirked as he looked down at Yang, the perfect pot, on the ground. “I can’t believe you want me to leak. I never saw that.” He wanted to stick his tongue out at Yang, but pots don’t have tongues.
“The perfect pot only serves me,” the master said, “but you serve not only me, but also many others. Because of your imperfections, I use you to cause growth in others. You are valuable to me. What you see as a flaw is in reality a blessing to others because you share what’s inside you.”
What flaw has our Heavenly Father trusted you with? There’s a reason our Heavenly Father created you with flaws: it is to show His power in your weaknesses [cracks] (2 Corinthians 12:9). Let your flaws be used for our heavenly Father’s glory.
Lord, you know I’m as flawed as they come. You knew fully well all our flaws and defects yet you purchased us anyway with your blood on Calvary. My prayer for me, and all others you have called, will be the cracked pots for Jesus you called us to be. Use us today, Lord, to bless others.
Stay close to Jesus.
Jimmy
After the master’s death, Yang was sold to the Knights of Columbus in Toledo and now serves as an umbrella stand. Yo copyrighted its name and made a fortune off royalties from rapper songs.
Jimmy Eskew © 2015
THANKFUL 
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