Wednesday Reading: Jeremiah 18:3-4
Key Verse: Jeremiah 18:4
4 And the vessel that he made in clay was ruined in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Devotion:
If we are not willing to be conformed to God’s will in our lives then we should expect nothing less than to be cast aside! Wow, doesn’t that sound so harsh when you say it like that? But you know what, that is as truthful as it gets. We are constantly being worked on by God and if we resist or do not start to be formed in the right way then we are going to be the ones that get tossed aside. There is only so much that each of us would try to do with piece of clay before we tossed it aside, some would give up in minutes whilst others would try and try again. Thankfully we have a God that is willing to continue trying right up until that furnace door will be closed.
Jeremiah looked at what the potter was doing and he realise two basic truths from observing him. First that God is the one who has absolute authority – just like the potter has the decision about what happens to each lump of clay, God has the decision about each one of us. Second, the potter will work with each lump in the same manner in that he will add water and strength into each lump so that it may be transformed from a shapeless lump into something of beauty or even something of great use. God will give each one of us more love that we can imagine just so that we have the best possible chance at being formed into exactly what He needs us to be.
Each year we seem to face more and more uphill from people who are not Christians. We continue to pour our hearts out to people and so many of them continue to reject us. But just like the potter will never give up with having another go, we should never give up with taking the Word of God with us. God will give us the strength to work with anyone. God will give us the right people in our lives to accomplish that goal. God will also allow us to see the needs of ourselves and others through observing others too. We are the ones that need to act on what God gives us!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do with things given you?
What are you doing with what God gives you?
