Learning From The Potter
Tuesday October 15, 2013
We're looking at a beautiful story about a potter making a clay pot. It reminds us that God has a wonderful plan for our lives and will lovingly work in our lives in order to make something exquisitely beautiful.
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. Then the word of the Lord came to me. 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. (Jeremiah 18:1-6 NIV)
In order for God to shape our lives we have to surrender to what God will do to transform us into the person He created us to be. How do we do that? We listen for instruction from God and we respond to those instructions. In this little story God spoke to Jeremiah and gave him an instruction. It was pretty simple -- just go to the potter's house. Because Jeremiah obeyed that instruction and went where God told him, you and I, and millions of people down through time, have been offered a lovely gift -- this reminder of a caring God who is shaping our lives with creativity and imagination and skill. Jeremiah listened to, and obeyed, the word of God. God's word is life for us and everything we need to grow in righteousness. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV)
All through the Bible we read stories of people who heard God speak and responded to His word. Their obedience resulted in many people being blessed. Samuel was a very young boy when God spoke an important word to him. Daniel was a teenager who obeyed God's word, even when it threatened his life. Daniel’s obedience encouraged those around him to be faithful to God also. Abraham was an old man when God told him to go on a journey to an unknown place and he packed up and went. We are all blessed because of His obedience. Anna was an old woman who had been a widow for many decades and because she listened and obeyed God's voice she saw God's Messiah and cradled Him in her arms. She was able to encourage His parents and many generations of parents for thousands of years.
Will we listen for God's voice today? Will we respond in simple trust and faith to God's instruction, whether it is ordinary and simple, or seems challenging?
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