The Potter and the clay

Jeremiah 18:1-3

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel.

These verses are the prominent verses referenced when people “biblically” reference potters, pottery and the potter’s wheel. What very few of these people realize is the long process that is involved before the clay ever gets to the wheel to become a beautiful or, for the really blessed, usable vessel. My next few blogs are going to cover the process of the clay from start to finish and the beauty of the statement, "You are the potter, I am the clay."

The clay starts in a very different place than the “fairly” clean artist’s studio. The clay resides in a dark, cool, damp hill or river bed. The clay is comfortable. Sure it can’t be used effectively in this location but it also does not have to be worked, pressed or pushed to the limits of its abilities either. Along comes a potter and digs it up. “How rude” the clay thinks, “I was comfortable their. I had a plan to stay there forever. What am I supposed to do now?” Little does the clay understand at this point but, the fun has only begun. The potter says to the clay, “I have a project for which you will be perfect.”

The potter takes the clay and strains it. The clay is squeezed through a strainer that to the clay seems all too small and tight for it to fit all of its "stuff" through. This is done to get the impurities out. Anything that is not clay, like rocks, twigs and grass must be removed so that the clay can become usable. The clay asks the potter, “When does the fun part begin?” The potters answer is, “I am preparing you so that when the time comes you will be ready.”

Next, the potter takes the nice, now twigless, rockless and grassless clay, and does what I am sure the clay thinks is very strange thing. He lets the clay get dry and hard. All of the water that was in the clay must evaporate. At this point I am sure that the clay is thinking, “You took me out of my comfort zone, put me through a process that took things out of me that I did not think were a problem, and now you let me whither away? What kind of potter are you? I thought you had a plan for me. Still the Potter says, “I do have a plan, just wait for it.”

What comfort zone is the Potter taking you out of today? What impurities is He straining out of your life? What "tight spots in your life are being used to purify you to be more usable for His service? In what area of your life are you dry and thirsty and feel abandoned by the potter when you thought you understood where He was taking you? Are you rejoicing today in the fact that He chose you to be a part of His plan? Our Potter loves us more than words can describe. In Jeremiah 31:3 it says, "The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.'"

Rejoice in Him today!

MT