This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal My words to you.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do. The word of the Lord came to me: “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?” – this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:1-6
You have turned things around, as if the potter were the same as the clay. How can what is made say about its maker, “He didn’t make me”? How can what is formed say about the one who formed it, “He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”? Isaiah 29:16
My words…
Praise
I worship You, Lord, as the Master Potter, skillfully touching and molding Your creation. You see the lump of clay on the wheel not as a lump, but as a useful vessel waiting to be formed by the hands of its Creator. Your loving fingers shape the clay into something You can use. You don’t make ornamental statues that sit on a shelf and collect dust. Your pottery collection is made up of bowls, plates, pitchers, urns – pieces used in the service of others. And if the clay contains a defect and does not bend and mold in Your hands, You do not scrape it off the wheel and throw it away. No! You work the clay again because You see the clay as valuable and worth Your effort. Just as the earth spins, so does the Potter’s wheel. The molding and shaping never ceases.
Forgive me
I am the clay. I was made to remain on the wheel and submit to Your hands. Forgive me when I become rigid, unbending to Your will, fighting to be something You do not intend for me. If I am to be a cup, who am I to say that I would rather be a vase?
Prayer for me
Sometimes I feel chipped, cracked. Some days I would like to be set on a shelf and not used. Strengthen my spirit to remember that a chipped, cracked cup in Your service is worth more than a gold, jeweled vase encased in glass.
Prayer for others
I pray today for those who have turned things around and believe they are their own potter. They know of You but refuse to claim You as their maker. They say, “He didn’t make me. He doesn’t know what He’s doing.” You see each of them as a vessel yet to be formed. They remain rigid on the wheel, yet you keep the wheel spinning.
Thank You
Thank You for never giving up on us, Your children. You are not a frustrated potter, throwing clay from the wheel. You are the loving Potter who remains at work, imprinting Your will on our lives.
More praise
Only You, Lord, can mold me into what I was born to be – a vessel made according to Your will. When You use me as Your vessel, I am living the most abundant life possible because that is what You promised me. You fill me – Your vessel – with Your love, with Your Spirit, and I am glorified! And that is abundant life. Oh that every lump of clay would yield to Your loving fingers!
