This morning I was reading the bible, from the book of Jeremiah 18: 1-6 which says;
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. “Like clay in the had of the potter, so are you in my hand.”
I don’t know if God spoke to Jeremiah audibly on that day, and I don’t know if He speaks audibly today. What I do know is that nothing is Impossible with God, and that God does speak today through His word, and by His Holy Spirit.
The question I asked myself this morning was, “How do I feel about the analogy of being made and shaped by the potter?” If I’m being honest, the thought of the process is not very appealing. Have you seen a potter at the wheel lately?
We may not know much about pottery nowadays, except that it can be beautiful and expensive. In Jeremiah’s day though, pottery was very important for everyday living also. To help you understand how skilled and how well they knew their work as a potter, you can compare that to a computer programmer or analyst creating with their keyboard today. Although it is tedious work, both create something useful that they are proud of.
The image of the potter and the clay were very familiar to Jeremiah and the Israelites. So when God sent Jeremiah to the potters house, it was easy for him to highlight for the people, the differences between the Creator, and the created being.
The potter is very imaginative and sees the purpose and outcome of the clay. The clay without a potter is void of form and useless; It is the creativity and hands of the potter that make it into something more.
By watching the potter, it becomes clear who is doing the shaping and who is being shaped. At times, like the clay in the potter’s hands, we are pressed, pushed, molded and remolded by God. But in contrast, unlike the clay we cry out to the potter{God}, “ease up there, not so rough.”
However, just like the potter who will crush the clay when he feels a clump that needs smoothing over to make a beautiful vase, our God will do the same when we are marred and messy with sin to make the outcome be a beautiful, unique, and useful life.
Ask God today if you are in need of reshaping, to turn you into someone who can be a beautiful, useful vessel for His kingdom.
If we will have a believing, willing heart, the process will be so much easier.
God loves us and He is a trustworthy potter. Will you trust Him today?
