God's Pottery

In Isaiah 64:8 we read, "O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand." His hands formed the pot. And he has a plan for each of us.

Psalm 139 tells me that his eyes saw me before I was even formed. Every detail of this pot is written in his book. I've been on his mind. I'm marvelously made for a reason, for a purpose.

And what is this purpose? He shapes us for the function of our future. He paints us with the colors of our culture. We're all different types and shapes of pots. We're all made with a separate carrying capacity.

Once we seek what God has in mind for us, then he begins to make us a vessel fit for glory. But we must be pliable. As the Potter works the clay, he continually wets it. If he doesn't, it gets dry and becomes a misshapen lump, good for nothing. Isn't it an incredible thing, then, that even though we're just little dust creatures, we shake a little dust fist in the face of the Lord, Creator and Potter, and say that he knows nothing? Instead, we need to submit to the Potter and let him make us into the kind of vessel that will be useful.

Paul said he was God's chosen vessel. We are too. We're formed to carry Christ, our treasure, who has come within our vessels through our submissive hearts.

[Q] What side of God does the analogy of a potter help you to understand?

[Q] How am I shaking "a little dust fist" in God's face?

Make a Change: Read Isaiah 29:16, Isaiah 45:9-10, and Isaiah 64:8. Where are you in the process of being molded by the Potter? Are you pliable—willing to be changed and made new? If not, surrender the areas of your life you are holding back.

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