Thoughts about the Potter

1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, 2“Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 3Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. 4But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

      5Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 6“Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. 7“At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; 8if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. 9“Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; 10if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it. 11“So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.”’12“But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’- Jeremiah 18:1-12

The last few weeks, I have been mulling this passage, and a sermon from it, in my mind. Since the Lord has given no indication that preaching is going to happen, I'm just going to throw out some of  my thoughts and see what happens....

We all know the old song, "Have Thine Own Way". We sing it at invitation time at church, and we always sing the line "Thou are the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, after Thy will, while I am waiting yielded and still." In the passage that verse is drawn from, God reveals to Jeremiah one of the fundamental truths about His relationship to man, and the depth, the utter surrender need to honestly ask that line of God is revealed.   Despite the desires of man, God is ultimately in control, molding our lives according to His divine purpose. While God is love, and peace, and mercy, He is also justice, righteousness, and holiness. He, as our Heavenly Father, is both protector and source of discipline for His children. 

Recently in my life, God has taken me to the potter's house. I had head knowledge of how His divine plan should take preeminence in my life as a Christian, but I had just started...cruising on spiritual autopilot. I found out what kind of mistake that can be. He broke me. Actually, He let me break myself, and now He is starting to remold me. I can tell that I am not going to be what I was originally going to be. Choices that I have made have shut doors that were once open to me. Things that God had intimated were part of the plan for my life, no longer are. Perhaps, more than anything, I mourn what I could have been for Him.  But I have learned that the Potter's hands are full of love for his work, no many times He has to break the misshapen and start the wheel again. And I am assured that I am on my way to being God's masterpiece, created anew in Jesus and foreordained to good works (Ephesians 2:10)