Daily Lesson for March 18, 2015

Today's daily lesson comes from Jeremiah chapter 18 verses 1 through 4:

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

Rick Warren opened his bestselling book "The Purpose Driven Life" by saying, "It's not about you."

We can thank God our lives are not all about us and what it is that we are to become is not limited by either what we are or what we want to be. God is the potter, and a very imaginative one at that; and the potter is not going to keep at it until all our imperfections and imbalances are worked out -- even if it means starting over. 

First there is the clay -- made from the primordial properties of the earth; but formless and void of any life-giving qualities. Then the potter sets his hands to us; the reshaping is painful insofar as we have become habitually accustomed to the shape of what we were. Then there is the wheel, where we are re-shaped by the constant revolution of the wheel -- symbolizing the passing o the days, seasons, and years -- and the gentle touch of our maker. If what the potter makes of us is misshapen, he patiently starts again --  never, ever giving up. Then, after the shaping; it's into the kiln, where we are tested by fire.  By the gracious hand of the potter, we are what we are now -- created for his purposes.

To be the clay in the potter's hands is to be totally at his pleasure and will.  This is frightening at first; as the author of Hebrews says, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."  Fearful, yes; but also thrilling. For as Paul says:

"As it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived' -- the things God has prepared for those who love him."

And I would add, surrender themselves to His gentle hand.

"Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
 While I am waiting, yielded and still."