Clay in the Potter’s Hand “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.” (Jeremiah 18:4 NIV) This episode reminds us that we are clay. Life is a gift and death is our earthly destiny. “For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Clay is a weak substance, but it has potential. Every baby born into this world is weak, and nobody knows what it will become. The clay jar in itself is not valuable, but what it contains may be very valuable; and we are made in the image of God. Apart from the Lord, we may never discover our possibilities or achieve our full potential. The weakness of the clay needs the power and wisdom of God. That reminds us that God is the potter. “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7) is the picture of a potter at work. God is sovereign and can plan for us and make of us whatever pleases him. That doesn’t mean we are helpless victims in a controlled world, because the Lord has decreed that we cooperate with him as he makes our lives… The potter’s wheel represents human life. God arranges the affairs of life so that we get to know him, ourselves, others, and the opportunities God presents to us. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). As we submit to his will, he prepares us for what he has prepared for us. The clay on the wheel Jeremiah was watching didn’t want to cooperate and several times resisted, and the potter could very well have taken it from the wheel and thrown it away – but he kept working and “made it again.” God never gives up on us! Think about Moses, David, Jonah, Peter, John, Mark, and others in Scripture who failed but became successful. The Potter is in charge, and if we yield to him he will see to it that we accomplish what he has planned for us. Jeremiah’s experience helps us understand what success is. It has little to do with fame, power, or wealth. Success is surrendering to the Lord and obeying his will (Romans 12:1-3), permitting him to mold us as he desires … You will be a success in God’s eyes if only you submit to the Potter and believe he can even make you over again. - Warren Wiersbe (excerpted from Old Testament Words for Today) “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Read Jeremiah 18:1-10. – Pastor Jim Cymbala
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 21:57:20 +0000
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