The potter

Jeremiah 18

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 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.

5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 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. "


I have so often thanked God for the growth and development in my life. I have very rough social skills, to say the least. My Mom was a 'difficult' person, and I was close to eighteen years old before I realized that I was becoming one too. In fact I had pretty much turned away every friend I had at that point.

But with the lessons learned from the word of God, and the example set before me by Jesus Christ, I turned that around and began to enjoy having friends and even relatives who seemed to enjoy having me around. It was an amazing transformation - but it came with a perilous cost:

I have to keep in mind - daily - that if I let any part of my old nature creep in I can quite easily become that person I used to be, and I would most definitely die alone.

So I get up every day, and pray first for myself. Does that sound selfish? Not when you understand that I pray, "Once again Lord, let Charles die and Christ Jesus live in his place. Heavenly Potter, mold me into your shape once again." Only then can I begin to see those around me through His eyes, and immediately begin to pray for them, serve them, even care about them.