Remember the Clay
Jeremiah 18:1-8
“For he knoweth our frame,” says Psalm 103:14; “he remembereth that we are dust.” God remembers, but we often forget! We think we are made of steel or of gold, but God knows we are made of dust.
Why? Well, for one thing, clay is a humble material that is worthless apart from the skillful hands of the potter. Clay is material with great potential; it can be molded into something useful. God has a purpose for ever life, and the clay dare not argue about it. “Hath not the potter power over the clay?” asks Romans 9:21, and naturally the answer is, “Of course, He does!”
It is when the clay fails to yield to the potter that the vessel becomes marred. All that clay can do is yield! It cannot mold itself; it can only surrender to the potter and let him do the molding. But if the clay fails to yield, the vessel is marred.
But see the patience of God: “He made it again another vessel” (Jeremiah 18:4). If a life has been marred through sin and rebellion, there is always the forgiveness of God and the opportunity to start afresh. Abraham needed a second chance; so did Jonah; so did Peter. The Potter is willing to forgive and go to work again on the vessel, for He longs to make it “meet for the master’s use” (2 Timothy 2:21).
The only time the Potter cannot remold the vessel is when the clay has become so hard that it no longer responds to His touch. Is it any wonder the Word warns us often against the hardening of the heart?
(Copyright, Warren W. Wiersbe. First appeared in Thoughts for Men on the Move. May not be copied or reproduced without express written permission of the author.)
Dr. Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an internationally known Bible teacher, author, and conference speaker. He graduated in 1953 from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. While attending seminary, he was ordained as pastor of Central Baptist Church in 1951 and served until 1957. From September 1957 to 1961, Wiersbe served as Director of The Literature Division for Youth for Christ International. From 1961 to 1971 he pastored Calvary Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky south of Cincinnati, Ohio. His sermons were broadcast as the “Calvary Hour” on a local Cincinnati radio station. From 1971 to 1978, He served as the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago 1971 to 1978. While at Moody Church he continued in radio ministry. Between August 1979 and March 1982, he wrote bi-weekly for Christianity Today as “Eutychus X”, taught practical theology classes at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and wrote the course material and taught a Doctor of Ministry course at Trinity and Dallas Seminary. In 1980 he transitioned to Back to the Bible radio broadcasting network where he worked until 1990. Dr. Wiersbe became Writer in Residence at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. In his lifetime, Dr. Wiersbe wrote over 170 books—including the popular Be series, which has sold over four million copies. Dr. Wiersbe was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).
