“The difference between ‘involvement’ and ‘commitment’ is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was ‘involved’ – the pig was ‘committed’.” – Unknown
Remember that famous scene from the movie “Ghost” where Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore are getting their hands dirty (briefly) at a pottery wheel? One moment they are sliding their fingers around on wet clay and the next moment they are clean and dry and moving off into another-scene-this-blog-is-not-getting-into, ahem? 😉 For many people the idea of a potter’s wheel is sort-of an iconic symbol that means something different to different people, such as a representation of our individuality, or the fact that we can be re-made even if we have been “marred”, or perhaps it is the basis of pithy yet trite sayings such as “God uses cracked pots”, etc.
Those ideas, if a bit shallow and incomplete, are all well and good, except for the glaring error present in all of these ideas: the focus is on the clay and not the Potter. Naturally, before I go any further, I want to be upfront and just say that in NO WAY do I consider myself an expert on pretty much anything, especially the nature of God; BUT I have been chewing on some new ideas lately and I’d like to share them with you.
Jeremiah 18:1-6 records an epiphany in the spiritual journal of the nation of Israel:
“THE WORD which came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.
Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was working at the wheel.
And the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he made it over, reworking it into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make it.
Then the word of the Lord came to me:
O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? says the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.” – Jeremiah 18:1-6 AMP
There are so many gems we can discover as we delve in the Word of God. I am, embarrassingly, not as regular about this as I should be. Thankfully, God in his mercy manages to sneak me my spiritual veggies in many diverse ways. 🙂 I notice several things from this snippet of Scripture. First of all, God initiates relationships with us, every time, even with the seasoned “spiritual veggie eaters”. He also sometimes wants us to do something, go somewhere, say something, think something, out of the ordinary for us. If God wants to teach us something new, he will oftentimes change things up on us. Sometimes it is inconvenient or uncomfortable. Jeremiah was a prophet, which made it his JOB to have these kinds of encounters with God and be able to relate truth to the nation (in this case Israel) he was sent to reach. What if this was a bad time though? What if he lived in our time-frame and his favorite show had just come on TV, or he wasn’t feeling well, or had just gotten home from a stressful day at work, or had a fight with his spouse? What if Jeremiah had allowed the temporary to supersede the eternal as we so often do? (This is not really meant to be the focus on the post for today. I just want to give you a little extra bit of gristle to chew.)
None of the many distractions of life actually DID win out over God’s instructions this time, however; and we have a wonderful bit of treasure to dig up and examine and take home to our little spiritual hidey-holes. 🙂 Jeremiah obeyed God and went down to the potter’s house, where, lo and behold, the potter was just doing his thing. He was making pots, and urns, and pitchers, and all the various and sundry useful and beautiful things that can be made with clay.
There is a show that I used to watch when I was younger on PBS called, I think, “The Prairie Potter”. I could not find specific information on the show when I looked it up however. I have always been fascinated by the transformation wrought on raw, unattractive materials when a creative person goes to work. What a gift to us all is creativity! Anyway, let me tell you, getting back to my point, that pottery is messy! It involves attention to detail, timing, just the right combination of water and clay, steady pressure on the inside as well as the outside to shape the piece, and naturally is the heating time in the kiln and the glazing and finishing and maybe another firing in the kiln. I am not confident that I got all those steps in the right order, either. 😀 The point is that the potter is invested in the finished work, and the potter always signs his finished pieces. The potter gets his hands dirty. He gives each piece his time and attention. It’s not watching the evening news while he knits an afghan and talks to the dog attention, either. The clay on the wheel is of highest priority. The potter, you see, has a plan. With every piece there is a design in mind. If something happens to the clay, it doesn’t just get thrown out as he moves on to the next hunk of clay. No, the potter keeps working with the clay until it is fit to be used for his intended purpose.
Many people today think that God is like a cosmic toy maker. They suppose that he created the world and then turned the giant key to wind it all up and summarily washed his hands of us all. I do not believe this represents a Biblical viewpoint at all. With such great care that he used as he fashioned Creation, it would be foolish and careless for God, who is LOVE incarnate, to step back from the ones he took such care to create. God is intimately involved with us, from our very first joining of cells until the last earthly breath we take, and beyond. (Matthew 6:25-34) God has time for us. God has ALL the time we could ever need. God is not limited by time as we are and so he will never run out of time.
The picture of the potter’s wheel is a very good way to remember God’s care for us all throughout our lives. As so many things are, this picture is more than it appears to be at first glance; it is an encouragement, but it is also a caution. God is the Potter, and we are in his hands.
“And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts and minds far from Me, and their fear and reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition [without any thought as to the meaning], Therefore, behold! I will again do marvelous things with this people, marvelous and astonishing things; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their discerning men will vanish or be hidden. Woe to those who [seek to] hide deep from the Lord their counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? Who knows us? [Oh, your perversity!] You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be considered of no more account than the clay? Shall the thing that is made say of its maker, He did not make me; or the thing that is formed say of him who formed it, He has no understanding?” – ISAIAH 29:13-16 AMP
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