The Potter and the Clay

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! Jeremiah 18:1-6

In this passage of Scripture, God is showing Jeremiah an illustration of Himself and His creation – man. The Creator (God) is the potter and the creation (man) is the clay. If you go back to the book of Genesis, chapter 2, verse 7, what did God shape or form man from? The bible says dust! God formed man from dust and what does dust become when you add water to it? Mud or clay! When we first come to the Lord, we dry, cracked, broken vessels. As we put our lives in the hands of God, He begins to put the pieces of our hearts, souls, minds, and lives back together. As we begin to grow in Him, He puts us on the potter’s wheel and begins to form and shape us into who we were originally intended to be. He cleanses you, purifies you, gets rid of all the junk that you don’t need and He can’t use and begins add virtues and mold those qualities He already gave you according to His purpose. The final outcome is a beautifully made, complete vessel, ready to be used by the Potter.

Being on the wheel is never pleasant. You are being stretched and scrubbed and shaped which can be quite painful as you let go of things that hold you back, things that you thought were of value, things that perhaps caused you more pain as you hid them away inside your heart. Let me encourage you today. God’s ultimate goal is to bring out the true you in Him and to do that you have to let go of the old you and your old ways and allow Him to shape His image in you; the image of Christ in you. Paul said we must decrease so that Christ may be increased. That simply means that we must deny ourselves of our fleshly desires and desire the will of our Father in our lives. When this is done daily, we decrease and Christ is increased. People see the difference. They see Jesus instead of you. They see Jesus instead of Christine. But it requires a process that you must allow God to do in your life. If you don’t submit and allow Him to have His way, people will only see you and not Christ. They will only see Christine and not Christ. How sad that would be, to profess Christ and the transformation that comes from salvation is not evident. When the Potter has finished molding the clay, He will bring forth a beautiful vessel for His glory and His honor. Allow Him to have His way with you from this day forth, you will not regret it.