Clay is not in control; Potter is!
“But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8
The immediately preceding context of today’s Bible verse is people who are unclean but still try to do righteous acts. But their righteous acts are like filthy rags in the sight of the Holy God. Like winds, their sins sweep them away. In the midst of their sinful life, they least care about God or call on His name. Now God has hidden His face from such people and gave them over to their sinful lifestyles. Finally, God let them go their way just because of their unrepentant heart.
Now the immediate succeeding context is the judgment and punishment of God over the sins committed. God punished them for their sins, their proud city of Jerusalem is in desolation and became a wasteland, and the glorious temple where the ancestors once praised God now burned with fire. In the midst of such a background, our verse for today appears. In such a bleak picture, the prophet Jeremiah admits and shouts the truth. The truth is this. “Yet, you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay; you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
The analogy of potter and clay show and demonstrate people’s unarguable relationship with the creator and redeeming God. God is the creator and redeemer of people. God is the potter, and we are the clay. We all are the work of His hand. People forget the fact that He can do whatever He pleases with the clay in His hand. God is in sovereign control over your life and destiny and the entire affairs of the world. Often we forget this truth when we indulge in sins and displeases the LORD.
My friend, you may be living in the midst of sinful people and may have seen the horrible consequences of their sins again and again. Understanding our circumstances helps us to know the truth of this analogy. Or we may have been blown and swept away by some bad choices we made or sins committed. Hear the truth. “Yet, God is our father, and He is the potter, and we are the clay in His hands.” Jeremiah understood this truth. What does it mean? God being the potter and we being the clay, the analogy informs us of the unhindered freedom of God to command our destiny. He is the one who calls all the shots, not us. Clay does not call the shots, potter does! Potter is in control, not clay.
The good news is you can come out and be different. It is not late today. You do not need to be like people around you, nor you need to stay in your sinful life. Like a potter who has a definite design in his mind before he works on his clay, God has a plan and design for your life. God will make a new creation out of you, my friend, at the foot of the cross of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. There, on the cross, you will see Christ’s body bruised for your iniquities, shed his innocent blood for your transgressions, died and paid in full for all of your sins, and then rose again victoriously to declare we are forgiven and clean forever. There when you gaze at the cross where the innocent, sinless savior redeems you and you repent and turn away from your sins, God the potter grabs hold of you, on the clay, with His loving and wonder-working hand and starts to mold you into a brand new creation- a brand new design- something very beautiful and glorious out of you.
Got a moment for today’s prayer? Pray after me.
“Father in heaven, I know you are the wonder-working potter and I am the clay. I believe you have a wonderful plan and design for me. I gaze at the cross of Christ where Christ Jesus gave His life for my sins, then buried and rose again for my victory. I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord. I am here Lord. Take me and mold me according to your wonderful design and make me a new creation that I may bring forth praises and glory to you all thru my life. Please forgive and redeem my past. Thank you for saving me. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray now. Amen.”
“Father in heaven, I know you are the wonder-working potter and I am the clay. I believe you have a wonderful plan and design for me. I gaze at the cross of Christ where Christ Jesus gave His life for my sins, then buried and rose again for my victory. I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord. I am here Lord. Take me and mold me according to your wonderful design and make me a new creation that I may bring forth praises and glory to you all thru my life. Please forgive and redeem my past. Thank you for saving me. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray now. Amen.”
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