Tuesday, January 17: Jeremiah 18- The Potter's House.

I am captivated by the image of the potter working the clay. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 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 (1-4).

Years ago a potter came to our church and preached while he turned a pot. He explained the process and demonstrated. It was a powerful moment for me and for most of us. After reading this chapter I went to ‘YouTube’ to find a potter/pottery video. I found this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OJyPjSn5Ow). It runs about 6-7 minutes, no talking only soft background music while a potter throws a bowl. If you can, take the time to watch it…

Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it (5-10).

As I watched the video I thought the clay is me… the firm hands of the Lord are shaping me (you). He makes what He chooses… a pot, an urn, a cup… tableware, cookware, a urinal or a washbasin. The potter chooses, not the clay. And although this video didn’t demonstrate it, at any point in the process the potter can say, “I don’t care for what it is becoming”, so he presses the clay down to start over.

I sat and pondered me being formed in God’s hands, a video rolled in my mind…

Lord, thank You for forming me… whatever You make with me Lord is Your choice.

Lord, if I might ask one thing… make me useful. Make me to be something used, something needed to be helpful in building Your kingdom, Lord. I would rather be used, dirtied, worn, chipped, even eventually broken for Your kingdom’s sake than to be a curio in a cabinet, protected and safe but never handled and used.

Use me, Lord… use me.

Through Jesus my Savior, I pray. Amen.

 

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