In the Potter’s Hand
ICS Daily Devotions
Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NKJV) 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! ”
As we read through the Bible, we often find metaphors and pictures of everyday life that God shared and communicated to His people effectively. Jeremiah 18 is one of those passages. When God wants to deal with areas in our life, He does not communicate with us in a way that we cannot comprehend. He shows us and reveals to us things so that we can comprehend and understand in order to change it.
The manufacture of pottery was one of the major industries in the Near East in that day. There is no doubt that Jeremiah had passed the potter’s house many times, and this time God had a special message for him and the nation of Israel. In Jeremiah’s image, we are the clay and God is the potter. When the Bible speaks of God as a potter, it means that He has a plan for our lives. God has the power to guide us and change us if we are willing to be guided and changed.
God uses different situations to mould our lives. He is always a good God. He wants the best for us and needs to start somewhere. The clay may not be attractive in itself, but as soon as the potter starts to form it, there is a real transformation. When you hold a piece of clay in your hands, it does not shout out to you “beautiful”. It is just a clay. But the goal is to create a vessel that will be used for a purpose in the end. Different steps will lead to an end result that the potter is intending from the beginning.
When we allow God to work in our hearts, He will change and transform us. It may not be an easy process. It is not always pleasant either. When God received us through Christ we were not much to look at. We were stuck in our sins, and in our shames. Before receiving Christ, we thought we could make it into Heaven on our own but once received into the hands of God, He could start the real process of forming us. This is the place where some Christians will resist because our flesh does not want to be changed. We fall easily back into our old behavior, habits, and thinking. For the flesh, remaining the same is easier than being changed. But the image of the potter at work is a picture of God’s grace.
Let us not harden our hearts against God. When we soften our hearts, He can rework us and make us good. When our hearts are hardened and we close access for Him to do what He wants, it will be harder for Him to form us. God in His grace wants us become all that He has called us to be. He wants us to release our full potential!
Sermon Series: God is Forming Us
