by Naomi Moon

In The Potter’s Hand

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:  ‘Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

 

Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’”
Jeremiah 18:1-6 English Standard Version

Reading the last verse of this text out of context might seem like a comforting thought, similar to that of “He’s got the whole world in his hands” nursery rhyme. “Like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.” But in context, it is a little more threatening. The God of the Universe, who made all of Creation and all things, can do with his people what he wills, whether that be to tear down or to build up. God is God, and you are not.

This might seem like a terrifying God of the Old Testament who is wrathful and full of anger, but the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. He yearns to be with his people and for his people to turn to him. God relents of the disaster he intended if they turn towards him. God relents of the death we deserve for our sin and wickedness because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Instead of looking to our own sinful ways, he invites us to look to the cross. In our repentance, we literally turn around. We turn from the evil that fills our hearts and minds and instead fill ourselves with the sacrificial love and grace of Jesus Christ. We are merely pots, cared for and shaped in the potter’s hand. 

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado