Monday, August 22, 2011
Jeremiah 18:1-6 says this:
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him 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. Then the word of the Lord came to me: "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.
As this passage continues, God promised Jeremiah that if a people which He proclaimed evil for turned away, He would build them up. But, if a people whom He proclaimed good for turned to evil, He would bring them down. God let Jeremiah know that he was planning disaster and devastation for Judah. But, God also sent Jeremiah with a plea, saying "Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good" (18:11, NKJV).
My brother brought this passage to my attention this summer while we were talking about the gospel and what it really means for us to come to God. I've learned a lot about the gospel this summer, what it is, and what it isn't. Working with university students at the beginning of the summer, it was difficult to explain in simple English what my heart yearned for them to understand without taking away from the message. With the camp kids the rest of the summer, there was a similar issue of finding a balance between speaking at the level of a ten year old (which, honestly, is higher than I thought it would be), and explaining the message of the gospel. Most kids have an understanding of "believe in Jesus, pray a special prayer, and you can go to heaven and not 'the bad place' when you die." The majority of them, however, have no clue what it actually means to come before a holy God recognizing your own wickedness and choose to surrender that self to Him and live in submissive grace.
I have absolutely no experience with a pottery wheel, but I've seen people use one, and I think it's fascinating how they know that by placing pressure in a certain portion of the clay, they can form a unique piece of pottery. Sometimes, when the pot doesn't turn out the way that the potter wants it or turns lopsided, he smooshes it back down into a lump again and starts over. This is what Jeremiah witnessed when he went to potter's house. This visual image represents not only God's message to the nation of Judah at the time that it was first spoken to Jeremiah, but it also applies to our approach to God as well. We are bad, lopsided pots who need to be reformed and reshaped. In order for this to happen, though, we have to be smashed down to just a simple lump of clay. Joel 2 begins talking about the day of the Lord. It warns the people of a day of great wrath and judgement, when God's army will come and destroy the wicked. Then, in verses 12 and 13 it says:
"Now therefore," says the Lord, "turn to Me with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm."
Just like the pot on the wheel must be humbled, so our hearts must be broken in repentance at God's feet before He can restore us into a better vessel. God doesn't want an outward appearance of repentance, like torn clothes or an empty prayer. He wants our hearts to be rent and our lives to be surrendered so that He can not only smoosh us down to nothing, but build us up into something beautiful that we could never be on our own. What an amazing thought that I have just began to process.
Just a note on the end of my summer:
I LOVED my job this summer. To be honest, I was not excited about working at the camp that I did. I had wanted to stay at home and find a normal job to earn some money, but I am so glad that God brought me to the place He did. I loved getting to know the students that I worked with as well as the other counselors. In fact, I balled like a baby driving home from my last weekend at camp, thinking that some of these kids I may never see again. Going into this school year is not at all what I expected it to be when I left in the spring. But I have already seen God do some great things, and I am excited to see how He continues to lay this year out before me. I am so undeserving yet so blessed to be where I am at, and I just hope that I can stay faithful to what He has called me to. I must resolve to continue to seek His face and search His heart so that by that I can know what my own heart must be. Then I know He will be faithful to take care of the rest!
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him 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. Then the word of the Lord came to me: "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.
As this passage continues, God promised Jeremiah that if a people which He proclaimed evil for turned away, He would build them up. But, if a people whom He proclaimed good for turned to evil, He would bring them down. God let Jeremiah know that he was planning disaster and devastation for Judah. But, God also sent Jeremiah with a plea, saying "Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good" (18:11, NKJV).
My brother brought this passage to my attention this summer while we were talking about the gospel and what it really means for us to come to God. I've learned a lot about the gospel this summer, what it is, and what it isn't. Working with university students at the beginning of the summer, it was difficult to explain in simple English what my heart yearned for them to understand without taking away from the message. With the camp kids the rest of the summer, there was a similar issue of finding a balance between speaking at the level of a ten year old (which, honestly, is higher than I thought it would be), and explaining the message of the gospel. Most kids have an understanding of "believe in Jesus, pray a special prayer, and you can go to heaven and not 'the bad place' when you die." The majority of them, however, have no clue what it actually means to come before a holy God recognizing your own wickedness and choose to surrender that self to Him and live in submissive grace.
"Now therefore," says the Lord, "turn to Me with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm."
Just like the pot on the wheel must be humbled, so our hearts must be broken in repentance at God's feet before He can restore us into a better vessel. God doesn't want an outward appearance of repentance, like torn clothes or an empty prayer. He wants our hearts to be rent and our lives to be surrendered so that He can not only smoosh us down to nothing, but build us up into something beautiful that we could never be on our own. What an amazing thought that I have just began to process.
Just a note on the end of my summer:
I LOVED my job this summer. To be honest, I was not excited about working at the camp that I did. I had wanted to stay at home and find a normal job to earn some money, but I am so glad that God brought me to the place He did. I loved getting to know the students that I worked with as well as the other counselors. In fact, I balled like a baby driving home from my last weekend at camp, thinking that some of these kids I may never see again. Going into this school year is not at all what I expected it to be when I left in the spring. But I have already seen God do some great things, and I am excited to see how He continues to lay this year out before me. I am so undeserving yet so blessed to be where I am at, and I just hope that I can stay faithful to what He has called me to. I must resolve to continue to seek His face and search His heart so that by that I can know what my own heart must be. Then I know He will be faithful to take care of the rest!
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