The parable of the potter

Have you ever watched a potter at work or even participated in a pottery class? The prophet Jeremiah visited a pottery workshop. Not out of curiosity or because he was looking for a new hobby, but because God commanded him to do so: “Arise, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will tell you my words.” (Jer 18,2).

Long before Jeremiah was born, God was already at work in his life as a potter, and God continued this work throughout his life. God spoke to Jeremiah: “I knew you before I formed you in the womb, and before you were born I chose you to serve me alone.” (Jer 1,5).

Before a potter can make a beautiful pot, he selects the clay that should be as smooth as possible in his hand. He softens the existing hard lumps with water and makes the clay flexible and malleable so that he can shape the vessel as he pleases according to his ability. The shaped vessels are placed in a very hot oven.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we all have many hard lumps in our lives. We allow Jesus to remove them through the power of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah makes it very clear that God is our Father and that He formed us from the dust: “Yet you, Lord, are our Father; we are clay, and you are the potter; we are all the work of your hands.” (Jes 64,7).

In the potter's workshop, the prophet Jeremiah watched the potter at work and saw how his first vessel turned out badly. What would the potter do? He didn't throw away the defective vessel, but used the same clay and made another pot, just as he liked. Then God spoke to Jeremiah: “Can I not deal with you, O house of Israel, as I have with this potter?” declares the Lord. “Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” (Jer 18,6).

Just like the clay in Jeremiah's story, we humans are flawed vessels. God doesn't discard what goes wrong. He has chosen us in Christ Jesus. As we surrender our lives to him, he shapes, presses, pulls, and molds us like malleable clay in his image. The creative process begins anew, patiently, skillfully, and with the utmost care. God doesn't give up: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph 2,10).

All his works are known to him from eternity, and God does with the clay in his hands what he pleases. Do we have faith in God, our master potter? God's Word tells us that we can have complete trust in him, for: "I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion at the day of Christ Jesus." (Philipper 1,6).

By placing us as lumps of clay on this earth's potter's wheel, God is shaping us into the new creation He willed us to be from the foundation of the world! God is active in each of us, in all the events and challenges that our life brings. But beyond the difficulties and trials we face, whether they involve health, finances, or the loss of a loved one, God is with us.

Jeremiah's visit to the potter shows us what will become of us when we surrender our lives to this creative and merciful God. Then He forms you into a vessel that He fills with His love, blessings and grace. From this vessel he would like to distribute what he has placed in you to other people. Everything is connected and has a purpose: God's shaping hand and the shape of your life; the different form that he gives us humans as a vessel corresponds to the task to which he has called each of us.

by Natu Moti