Fetching For The Potter, Not The Clay

A minister in Texas used a very creative visual aid to start his message. He brought on to the stage a beautiful Golden Irish Setter that belonged to his youth minister. The Youth minister loved this dog so much that when the dog had been sick and had to be in the vet kennel overnight, he stayed all night with him. Needless to say this dog loved his master.

That night for the sermon, the senior minister brought the dog on to the stage and he rolled a ball across the plat form and said, “Fetch Josh fetch.” But the dog just sat there and would not fetch the ball for the religious leader. The minister then had one of his friends, a large body builder come up on the platform, and this huge muscleman stood over the dog scowling and growled. “Fetch Dog Fetch!” But the dog would not fetch the ball for power. Then a banker came on to the platform and took out his wallet and waved a handful of bills in front of the dog’s face and said, “Josh, if you get the ball I’ll reward you,” but the dog would not fetch for money. Then the preacher said, “Let’s tries some peer pressure, and so he had all the people stand up and join in unison, “Fetch Josh, Fetch Josh!”, but the dog would not yield to the peer pressure.

The pastor then had a beautiful young woman with auburn hair about the color of the dog’s hair, came on the plat form and patted him on the head and with a sultry voice she said, “Josh, please get the ball…for me.” And the pastor said that the dog did flinch just a little…but he would not fetch for the wiles of a woman.

Finally he called the youth minister on to the platform and the owner of the dog said, “Josh go get the ball.” And the dog bolted from his stance and retrieved the ball and gave it to his owner. After everybody had settled down, the preacher began his sermon by saying, “Now, let me ask you…who are you fetching for?” And that is the question I want to ask you. Who is your master? Who is Lord over your life? Romans 6:16 in the Living Bible says, “Don’t you realize that you can choose your own master? You can choose sin (with death) or else obedience (with acquittal). The one to whom you offer yourself--he will take you and be your master, and you will be his slave.”

Every one of us has a master, and that master determines our behavior and our actions. If you’re master is money, then everything you do is centered around money. If you’re master is power, your life is centered around trying to obtain that power. So let me ask you once again, who is it that you are fetching for? Who is in charge of your life? Now of all the people and things you can place at the center of your life, only one truly belongs there, you were created in such a way where the throne in your heart is reserved for God and God alone.

Now you have the freedom to place other things there, but in the end you will find them woefully inadequate and unfulfilling, because that’s not where they are supposed to be, that’s where God is supposed to be. And in the end you will find that you need God, and that God is ultimately the one in charge, whether you acknowledge it or not, and you would have wished you had followed Him instead of those other things.

Now when God told Jeremiah to get up and go watch the Potter work, the nation of Israel was in a time of crisis, not so much a financial, or national crisis, though it was pending, but rather it was a spiritual crisis. The nation that belonged to God, that was blessed by God, had forgotten God. God was no longer sitting at the center of their lives. They had forsaken God to go fetch for other things. Things that brought them earthly pride and pleasure. They were fetching for the clay, and not the Potter. So God took a back seat in their lives. And God will not sit idle by while his people go after other things to replace Him. God will not settle for 2nd place in their lives or in ours.

That’s because God is a Jealous God. Now we often think of jealousy as a bad thing, but jealousy can be a good thing when it is warranted. God’s jealously for us is actually a good thing. God is jealous because God is loving. You are the same way I bet. Let’s suppose that one day you dig in to your husband’s wallet to get take some money and all of a sudden you a picture fall out of a beautiful young woman whom you have never seen. You ask, “who is she?” He says, “She’s a friend. When I can’t talk to you I talk to her. She is understanding and caring, and she’s always there when I need her.” Now ladies let me ask you, would you be jealous for your husband? Would he be dead? You would be jealous if you loved him.