A few days ago, I came across a heartbreaking article in the newspaper. It reported that a young OB-GYN doctor had been arrested by the police for illegal medical practices. The article claimed he had placed advertisements for abortion services and, regardless of whether they were pregnant, performed abortion procedures on women who were not actually pregnant, just to collect surgery fees. These young women were mostly poor, relying on welfare, and were emotionally vulnerable due to unwise relationships and unwanted pregnancies. The young doctor exploited their situation with false diagnoses to make money. I couldn’t help but feel deeply sorrowful for this doctor.

Most of the doctors I know consider medicine their sacred calling and offer free services to countless poor and needy patients. One of them even treats his clinic like a life counseling center, healing not only physical illnesses but also the hardships of his patients’ lives. If a patient struggles to secure a student loan for their children’s college tuition, he would go with them to the bank and become their guarantor without hesitation. If there were issues with buying a car, he would personally go to the dealership and co-sign. He treats each patient as a friend and family member.

Children, the elderly, and young adults alike all respect and truly love him. In church, he faithfully supports the pastor and leads church ministries with devotion, earning the trust and admiration of the congregation. His children, following in their father’s footsteps, live lives of faith and dedication.

For first-generation immigrants to reach professional status in this land, it is undoubtedly the result of untold hardships, sleepless nights, and relentless effort. Particularly for those in the medical field, who deal with human life, the struggles are beyond words.

Perhaps the young doctor, after all his difficult efforts to gain a medical license, expected his skills to soar on the wings of human instinct—never to falter. But we sadly see how ugly and tragic the fall becomes when the fruits of intelligence and effort are used solely for personal gain. We cannot help but confess that we are all living in fragile jars of clay. If no one catches us when we fall, we shatter hopelessly, becoming something even we ourselves despise.

Don’t we often see ourselves becoming so-called “successful,” well-known, and seemingly secure—only to lose touch with our neighbors and even deceive our own conscience? We abandon noble values and boast about things that are, in truth, no more than flowers of the field—useless, unattractive, and short-lived.

Yet, there is something truly astonishing for us: within this lowly, unattractive body, a dazzling life—a burning, pure love—has been poured into us. This treasure, the most genuine and beautiful, the root of joy, the one and only precious gift of God, has been placed within our fragile clay bodies. Its price was the blood of the cross. And even today, He calls out to humanity with deep yearning:

“My beloved one! My beloved one! In your trials, in your pain, in your brokenness—place this treasure within!
You, who are swept away by the turbid currents of life!
You, who wait breathlessly for the dawn!
You, who stand on the edge of despair, sighing deeply!
You, whose heart has no peace—
Place this treasure within you!
If only you hold this treasure, green leaves will sprout in your soul, flowers will bloom, and fragrance will fill the air…”

All people are the same, but depending on what—or whom—we hold in our soul, the ultimate purpose of life can either lift us to greatness or drag us down into disgrace.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
—2 Corinthians 4:7

Someday, I pray that the young doctor, too, will have the opportunity to receive this treasure. On that day, he will likely be so overwhelmed by its brilliance that he will fall to his knees and weep uncontrollably. The scales that blinded his soul will fall away, and with eyes opened wide in joy, he will finally confess that he, too, was just a fragile jar of clay.

Every day we are broken countless times, but the loving hands of the Lord continue to mold us anew, yearning to fill us with His precious treasure. Today, more than ever, we long for the touch of His grace.