September 25 I Sunday

Song of Solomon 6-8

Galatians 4

“But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.”   —Jeremiah 18:4

In Jeremiah 18:2, God told Jeremiah, “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you My message.” When Jeremiah got there, “[He] saw [the potter] working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him” (Jeremiah 18:3-4).

       God explains to Jeremiah what he just saw, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does? Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in My sight and does not obey Me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it” (Jeremiah 18:6-10).

       The clay is the house of Israel, the people of Judah, but it has become marred in God’s hands. The marring is not by the intention of the potter or the mistake of the potter. It is self-inflicted marring by the clay. In other words, the original intention in the mind of the potter is damaged, the clay is spoiled by the disobedience and selfish activity of the nation. If that happens to the clay, it is marred.

       The question that then rises in the mind of Jeremiah as he watches the potter and the marred clay is what is the potter going to do? Is he going to take it off the wheel and discard it? Is he going to go get a fresh piece? Scripture tells us the answer: “the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” The potter still has the best interest of this piece of clay in mind and is going to re-form it into another pot.

       Some of us may be like marred clay. Things go wrong in our lives, sometimes by our own actions, our own foolishness or our own selfishness. Sometimes it is not things that have been done by us, but things that have been done to us. There are things in our life that have gone wrong, that hurt us. No matter how marred our life may be, if we are willing to repent and return to God, He is willing and able to remold us for His good purpose.

Prayer: Gracious Lord God, although I am marred, You did not discard me. I repent of my disobedient and selfish ways. Thank You for not giving up on me and for giving my life purpose. Praise You!