“The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel” (Jer. 18:1–6).
Jeremiah was sent to the potter by the Lord to learn a lesson. I believe there is a beautiful lesson here for us too.
This picture of the potter at the wheel making a beautiful vessel from an ugly lump of clay shows us what happens when our lives are in God’s hands. In our case our Potter even made the clay. Then by the skill and sovereign will of our Maker’s hands He fashions us: He shapes us, breaks us, remakes us again into a vessel that seems good to Him to make. The real change in the pottery from day to a vessel of great beauty is the finishing coat, the glaze; and doesn’t this remind us of how our Lord has clothed these earthen vessels in His righteousness? Our Lord tells us too that, as pottery must be “fired” to become strong and firm, so we must go through a firing, through trials and troubles, in order to make us firm and strong vessels fit for the Master’s use. He makes us beautiful vessels without blemish, beautiful, because when He looks upon us He no longer sees the ugly day but the finished work—the glaze of Christ.
Now these beautiful vessels are not made to stand on a shelf but to be useful to our Maker and to be filled by Him. As the Psalmist wrote, “My cup runneth over,” so may we be in a spiritual sense-filled even to overflowing. God’s love is so great we cannot contain it; so may His goodness spill from us onto all we meet, especially onto our family circle, church, and neighborhood. May we be FILLED the more by Him!
Fill my cup Lord,
I lift it up, Lord,
Come and quench this thirsting in my soul.
Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more,
Fill my cup,
Fill it up and make me whole.
Jeremiah was sent to the potter by the Lord to learn a lesson. I believe there is a beautiful lesson here for us too.
This picture of the potter at the wheel making a beautiful vessel from an ugly lump of clay shows us what happens when our lives are in God’s hands. In our case our Potter even made the clay. Then by the skill and sovereign will of our Maker’s hands He fashions us: He shapes us, breaks us, remakes us again into a vessel that seems good to Him to make. The real change in the pottery from day to a vessel of great beauty is the finishing coat, the glaze; and doesn’t this remind us of how our Lord has clothed these earthen vessels in His righteousness? Our Lord tells us too that, as pottery must be “fired” to become strong and firm, so we must go through a firing, through trials and troubles, in order to make us firm and strong vessels fit for the Master’s use. He makes us beautiful vessels without blemish, beautiful, because when He looks upon us He no longer sees the ugly day but the finished work—the glaze of Christ.
Now these beautiful vessels are not made to stand on a shelf but to be useful to our Maker and to be filled by Him. As the Psalmist wrote, “My cup runneth over,” so may we be in a spiritual sense-filled even to overflowing. God’s love is so great we cannot contain it; so may His goodness spill from us onto all we meet, especially onto our family circle, church, and neighborhood. May we be FILLED the more by Him!
Fill my cup Lord,
I lift it up, Lord,
Come and quench this thirsting in my soul.
Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more,
Fill my cup,
Fill it up and make me whole.