Sermon Central
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On The Potters Wheel
Contributed by Anthony Zibolski on Aug 20, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: The world may say we are ruined, but God can take broken and hurting and make it beautiful and healthy.
On the Potter wheel
Jeremiah chapter 18:1-18:6
Introduction-
Turn in your Bible to the book of Jeremiah chapter 18:1-18:6.
This is a classic passage in the Bible where God reveals how He deals with human lives.
God is the potter and we are the clay.
We are on the wheel and God is shaping us into the individual vessels that He wants us to become.
We are clay in the potter’s hands.
This is, and should be, a humbling thought. However, we often think of ourselves as much more than ordinary clay. Fact is, sometimes we don’t even think of ourselves as clay at all. Instead, we see ourselves more in the role of the potter than the clay.
Jeremiah chapter 18:1-18:6
There is a visual here; we see the prophet Jeremiah receiving instructions from the Lord.
(2) “Go down to the potters house, and there I will give you my message.”
He is to go to the potters house (observe him) and God will give him further instructions.
Jeremiah was sensitive to the voice of God and was obedient to God.
He went to the potters house, observes him in action, doing what potters do…He was making pottery, and observed that the pottery He was making was “mired in His hands”
The Hebrew word mired translated is “ruined.”
The prophet observed that the pottery was ruined and in the hands of the potter.
The prophet sees the potter take the ruined piece of pottery and shape it into another pot, “as seemed best to him.”
We do not know how long Jeremiah was at the potter’s house, but we know that he watched the potter and waited for God to speak to him.
How many times when God wants us to watch and wait do we get impatient and miss the opportunity for God to give us his message?
Before we can grasp what is being said here, we cannot take this out of context. God is speaking to unrepentant Israel and desires to show them that they need to repent and listen to God’s prophet Jeremiah and allow God to be in their lives.
(12) Was there response-
“But they will reply, it’s no use, we will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.”
The principal God was showing Jeremiah for the nation of Israel can also be adapted to our lives individually because God desires to shape our lives also.
We sing the song of the Masters Hand.
“Have thine own way Lord, have thine own way, thou are the potter and I am the clay, mold me and make me after thy will, while I am waiting yielded and still.”
There are two responses to God wanting to work in our lives.
1. We stay on the potter’s wheel and allow God to do what is needed in our lives.
2. We jump off the potter’s wheel and forbid God to mold our lives.
Which one are you? You have to be one of them.
Let’s start with the one that jumps off the wheel and doesn’t allow God to shape their lives.
You will never stay on the molding wheel of God if you first do not understand God’s role and your role. God is the potter and we are the clay.
You don’t realize that truth and you will struggle to stay on God’s wheel.
“But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, why did you make me like this? Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some for noble purposes and some for common use.”
God is not telling us that we shouldn’t have questions. He is not silencing us when it comes to us knowing God’s plans for us. He is speaking to those that have a god-defying attitude who wants to make God answerable to them for what He does and who by their questions defame the character of God.
Ask your questions, but understand who you are talking too! Almighty God, Creator. The analogy of potter and clay is to show us that God has a purpose for us and will make something beautiful of our lives if we will let Him. By the freedom He has given us, we have a choice weather we will allow Him to mold us and make us that creative and original pot.
No one can call God to account for what He does. God shows great patience towards us- even in our rebellion. His patience is to bring us to repentance just like He tried to do with the nation of Israel.
Clay is useless, shapeless, and has no purpose until someone takes it and gives it purpose, beauty, and shape.
