"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
Today's reading begins with God commanding Jeremiah to go and watch the potter work with his clay. The potter takes his clay and begins to form something. But before the clay hardens, the potter changes it completely and makes something else.
This demonstration was to show Jeremiah that Judah should turn from their wicked ways and be rewarded rather than rejecting God and being destroyed. This verse applies to us today too. The rewards that we will receive by following God, will outweigh any possible reward that we could achieve on our own. Our ways are selfish that lead to destruction, where God's plan is to prosper us and provide us with hope. God has the authority and power to form anything as He pleases. He may dispose of us as He feels fit, and it would be absurd for us to dispute this (as the clay to quarrel with the potter). When God comes against us in judgement we can be sure that it is for the sins that we have committed, and thankfully we have been given the gift of salvation through death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Dear Lord, I pray that I would be like clay in your hands and let you be the potter. My life left in my own hands will lead to destruction and requires your touch to be reformed and shaped as you see fit. I ask that you would provide a desire deep inside me that I would obey your words and learn from my mistakes. Give me the strength to overcome temptation so that I can keep your commands. You owe me nothing, and yet you choose to continue to show me patience, kindness, and compassion. You have made me the way you wanted to, and it is my responsibility use those gifts to glorify you. I would like to thank you for all that you have given to me and how you have always provided my needs. Just as the clay will only find a purpose when it remains pliable and in the hands of the potter, so I too want to let you have your way with me. Amen.
2 comments:
Yes, a good and wise way to think. We are clay in the potters (God's) hands, not individuals who can do whatever we want and be in charge.
Even though we are the clay, so often we want to be the potter shaping our own lives. But we deceive ourselves. Whenever we take control we make a mess of our lives and need the Potter to reshape us before we harden into a useless vessel. May we never forget that!
I found the story of the Recabites fascinating. I appreciated this question posed by my Life Application Bible.....
We often are willing to observe customs merely for the sake of tradition; how much more should we obey God's Word because it is eternal?
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