He's the Potter, We are the Clay!

Potter: One who makes earthenware vessels.

Clay: Earth that is pliable when moist but hard when fired.

There are many different ways the Lord uses to describe His relationship to His people. Today, I want to share with you how He’s the Master Potter and we are the clay and to inform you that the Potter has a mission! This mission is to take worthless clay and turn it into vessels of honor, which means that He has to mold it, shape it, and transform it, in order for it to be useful to Him. Isaiah 64:8 says it best; "But now, oh Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand."

It doesn’t matter what condition we're in when He finds us; God is more interested in taking the worst of us and changing us into the best He has to offer. Like the clay at first, our condition is initially worthless - it must be shaped, molded, and transformed, so that it can be used. We were worthless to God in our sinful condition, but thank God, He saw the vessels we could become. But first we must invite Him into our lives as our personal savior; at that point, God can begin His process.

When clay is first brought in from the fields it is unusable; it is usually hard and full of impurities. As the clay must first be refined, so must the Christian first be refined before we can be shaped into a vessel by the Master Potter. The clay has to be put into the kiln and expose to fire to be harden. We  too must be tried by fire in order to be strengthened. Look at Joseph for instance - Joseph was sold into slavery and imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. When he was tried by fire, he maintained a positive attitude toward the Potter, became a vessel of honor, and was made the second most powerful man in Egypt.

Jeremiah 18-6 says; "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel." In other words, just as the clay yields itself to a potter, we as Christians must submit to the authority of God. He’s in complete control and whatever the fire is that He puts us in has been tailor-made just for us.

With all that said, let the church say Amen… and AMEN!