1 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word: 2 Go down to the potter’s house, and I’ll give you instructions about what to do there. 3 So I went down to the potter’s house; he was working on the potter’s wheel. 4 But the piece he was making was flawed while still in his hands, so the potter started on another, as seemed best to him. 5 Then the Lord’s word came to me: 6 House of Israel, can’t I deal with you like this potter, declares the Lord? Like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in mine, house of Israel!
Reflection
God uses different names for us in the Bible. In today’s reading we’re referred to as clay. I can live with that one but in other verses—not so nice. Look at Isaiah 64:6. It reads, “We have all become like the unclean; all our righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag. All of us wither like a leaf; our sins, like the wind, carry us away.
I would much rather be called beloved. That’s the term God used for Benjamin in Deuteronomy 33:12. God said, “About Benjamin he said: ‘Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.’”
But today we are clay.
Clay, in and of itself, can be used for something good—or bad.
In verse 6 it can be used for either good or bad. God said to Jeremiah, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in mine, house of Israel.”
It’s interesting to me to realize that clay can’t say what it will be, neither good nor bad. That’s God’s choice. We’re told in Romans 9:20-21, “You are only a human being. Who do you think you are to talk back to God? Does the clay say to the potter, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Doesn’t the potter have the power over the clay to make one pot for special purposes and another for garbage from the same lump of clay?”
But there is always free will. Christians have different views on it. Galatians 5:13 tells us, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”
Paul continues in verse 16 and 17, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”
I found a saying in “Bible Study Tools.” It goes, “Instead of saying “I’m human” as an excuse to walk by the flesh, try using, “I’m saved” as a reason to walk in the Spirit.
God made us to be what we will be, like a wonderful vessel carrying the most expensive of gifts. Or maybe our task is being called to take out the garbage. If so, wonderful, but if I do it with all my heart, what more can be said?
We are clay. God is the potter. Let us be clay in his hands.
by Rick Reed
For Pondering and Prayer
I need to remember that I am clay, but more importantly, I’m God’s clay. And he can do with me what he wants. I will be formed in the way God wants to use me.
Prayer: My God, help me to be the best lump of clay that I can be. Take me, make me, use me the way it will most please you. In Jesus name, Amen.