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: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
- Jeremiah 18:1-6
According to verse 6 in this passage, the Potter has absolute control over what becomes of the clay. It is in His hand and He makes of it what He desires. For some people, this is not a very comforting thought. The idea that I have no rights or no control over my own life seems wrong in a society like ours that places such a high value on individual freedom. But the Bible is not saying that when we come to Christ we are forced into some kind of religious obligation. The message of the Gospel is that the only way that we can truly be free is to yield our will to the will of the one who made us and who knows who are meant to be! It is the mind of the Potter that shapes the clay, NOT the other way around! What possible hope does the clay have of ever becoming anything at all without the hand of the Potter – none! Take few moments to read and reflect on the following passages of Scripture…
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Romans 12:1-2 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Isaiah 45:9 - Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
Romans 9:20-21 - But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
What a message for those who know and trust in Jesus! He is in control of our lives and He can make of us what He wishes. Some are sturdy vessels that are used over and over again. Others are very fine and delicate like expensive china. Whatever the usage, it is according to the will of the Potter and those types of choices are totally up to Him. The clay has no right to question the Potter’s judgment in the matter of what kind of vessel He makes of it
The whole point here is that God decides what He wants you to do and to be. Your duty is to submit to His will and His authority over your life. The only duty that the clay has is to yield to the will of the Potter. If we want the blessings of the Lord and if we want to be vessels of honor for Him, then we must surrender our will to His. If we will place ourselves in His hands and genuinely allow the Lord to work His will in us, then we will be blessed and will become vessels of His purpose and His glory.
Can you honestly say today; “I am totally yielded to the will of God for my life?” Or, would you have to say, “There are areas where I am still in control. There are parts of me that I haven’t given to the Potter. There are circumstances that I face that I still try to control and work out on my own?”
Jeff Frazier
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