At the Potter's House
Opening Prayer
Father, help me to be pliable in Your hands. I want to be teachable before You so that I can be a vessel for Your glory.
Read Jeremiah 18:1-17
[1] This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” [3] So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. [4] 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. [5] Then the word of the LORD came to me. [6] He said, “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 my hand, Israel. [7] If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, [8] and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. [9] And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, [10] 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. [11] “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ [12] But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.'” [13] Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel. [14] Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing? [15] Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up. [16] Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. [17] Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster.” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Are there places where you need to yield to God's shaping?The next two readings involve a metaphor used several times in the Bible (see also Isa. 45:9; 64:8; Rom. 9:19-21). As with many prophetic insights, the inspiration is taken from everyday commercial and domestic life. As Jeremiah watches the creation of clay utensils he senses God speaking directly to him about the destiny of Israel. One pot is misshaped and discarded, and another one formed out of the same clay (4). It‘s an image of great intimacy as God’s hands work on the wet clay of his people. It also denotes God’s absolute right to do as he sees fit in the best interests of Israel (6-10). In Jeremiah’s case the picture strikes a note of imminent and frightening judgment softened only by the call for immediate repentance. It’s not too late; it doesn’t have to be like this; there’s still time to change (11). But God’s justice is final and fair to all people. Israel and the other nations of the world are all treated on the same terms. Repentance is God’s way of restoring relationship with him.
Apply
Give God permission to shape your character as he sees fit. Seek out a mentor who can speak into your development.
Closing prayer
Lord, I want You to do Your work in me so that You can demonstrate Your life through me. I yield myself to You.
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