THE POTTER AND THE CLAY

It was more than half a century ago that I visited the shop of the potter in the old city of Hebron. It is likely that pottery making has been going on at Hebron from the time that Abraham lived in that vicinity.


The craftsman I saw working at his trade was using a simple and ancient-looking piece of equipment with a rounded flat top which was rotated on a horizontal plane by working the treadles with the feet. This left both hands of the potter free to work the clay. This top was the "wheel" on which a large lump of clay was cast for molding into the desired shape. The clay must be wet and pliable. By frequent dipping of his hands in water, the potter could smooth and shape the clay as it turned on the wheel.


So quickly, as if by magic, the drab mass of inert material assumed shape and symmetry and became a useful vessel. Yet it was not really magic, but simply the result of skillful management of yielding material under a practiced hand.


This brings to mind Jeremiah 18:3,4, "Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it."


There are spiritual lessons to be learned here. In this case, something went wrong with the original plan. Doubtless, there was some imperfection in the clay and not a lack of skill in the potter's work. Perhaps a bit of stone or other foreign material caused a defect, but the clay was not discarded. The offending substance was removed, and a new plan was devised. Moistening and reshaping the clay, the potter has made another vessel, a new one, "as seemed good to the potter."


This story gives an apt illustration of the work of the Heavenly Craftsman in his work with us mortals. But there is this significant difference: While the clay has no mind or choice, we mortals do have mind and choice and will. In the Song of Moses it is written, "His work is perfect" (Deut. 32:4), and in II Samuel 22:31, "As for God, his way is perfect." Despite God's perfect plan and unlimited power, many vessels are marred, broken and useless. It is because there is an inherent weakness in the human clay, a something that is "enmity against God" and not subject to the law of God." Thus the original intent of the Great Potter is frustrated, but if our will becomes compliant and we surrender to His will, the clay is not discarded, but reworked into a vessel - another vessel that is "unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work" (II Tim. 2:21). Praise God! A vessel fit for God to use! His power can make you what you ought to be!






Previously published in the Gems of Truth by Herald and Banner Press, Overland Park, Kansas http://www.heraldandbanner.com/