Lent Week Four—Wednesday
Psalm 101 Jeremiah 18:1-11 Romans 8:1-11 John 6:27-40
When God told Jeremiah to go down to the potter’s house, the pottery wheel had been in existence for over 3,000 years. Jeremiah knew how pots were made and he might have wondered what was the point of going to the potter’s house? Why did God just not tell Jeremiah what was on His mind? Perhaps the answer is in verse 3: “I went down to the potter’s house and I saw him working at the wheel”. God wanted to indelibly imprint an image in the heart and mind of Jeremiah.
Clay is essential to the potter. While it might be a stretch to say the potter loves the clay, the potter understands how important the clay is to his ultimate concern or goal of creation. Jeremiah saw the potter working at the wheel forming the clay into a particular shape for a specific purpose, but something went wrong and the goal of the potter was frustrated. The vessel that he was making was spoiled in his hand.
The potter did not throw the clay out. Using the same clay that had become spoiled, the potter made it over, reworking it into another vessel. The clay remained valuable and useful to the potter. The potter persisted in working with the same clay to create a valuable object. In verse 6, Jeremiah reveals the lesson. “As this clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand.” God will not give up on us. God will not throw us out but continue to rework us into the people He wants us to be. I pray we realize that God’s plan for us is infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes or dreams.
-Ephesians 3:20
Jason Waltman
The Carpenter's Nail 