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Weddings make you do strange things! One of the unique things I did this week was wash 200 glass jars in preparation for my wedding. It was strangely therapeutic, the simple action of scrubbing each one, rinsing it and placing it to dry.

Being made of glass, the little jars or tubes are extremely fragile, so each one must be handled with great care in order not to break it against a myriad of dangers that threaten it – tabletop, the tap handle, the floor, another jar, or the sink. 

I needed to handle each individual jar with care to clean them all: wash, rinse, place to dry, then repeat. After washing them for a while, I started to think of each one as a precious entity in itself: each one required that gentle touch to ensure its safety. Then, I started to think of God treating each one of us that way. We are fragile beings and God is far more powerful than we are; in the same way a human hand is much more powerful than a fragile glass tube. But God handles us gently, like a loving father with his little children, and He treats each one of us as precious in our own right. Each one of us He gently washes clean from our sin. Every person is precious in His sight.

The Bible talks about us as pottery that God shaped, moulded and breathed life into. We are formed by God and He knows each of us by name. He gave us life, and new life in Christ. This Christmas, it is an encouragement and comfort to know that God sees me as precious – so precious He would give His Son to die for me. It’s encouraging to me because I realise that God has not forgotten us but holds us ever so gently in His hands with special care. And when difficulties come, I know it is because He disciplines us as His children so that we will grow and bear much fruit:

My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son. Hebrews 12:6

So the next time you have to wash or clean something fragile and precious, remember the way that God treats each of us as precious individuals that He loves. Remember that you are precious in God’s sight this Christmas season!