Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

May 28, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO BE THE POTTER (part 5)

Jeremiah 18:4 “…….so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it”

We have seen the POTTER, the PLAN, the PROCESS, the PROBLEM, and the POTENTIAL.

The sixth thing we see in this passage is the PATTERN:
The broken vessel was remade into another vessel “as seemed good to the potter to make it”. That is the pattern that every one of God’s vessels must go by. The vessel is only done when God says it is done. The vessel is only good if God says it is good. it doesn’t matter if we think we have been through enough. It doesn’t matter if we think that we are good. It doesn’t matter if we think that our vessel is as useful as it needs to be. The measure of the vessel is whether the Potter thinks it is finished. All of us would like to get off the wheels as soon as possible. All of us would like to get rid of the friction and the pressure as quick as we can. This process is not about pleasing you and me, it is about pleasing the Lord.

The last thing we see in this passage is the PRESCRIPTION:

* 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 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.
8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

This is a description of repentance. “If that nation…turn from their evil”. God says I can remake you, if you repent. Notice this, if you “turn”. Does that not sound like the process on a wheel? Turning is the key. Turning away from our former decisions. Turning away from our rebellion. Turning away from our frustration with the process. Turning away from fighting the potter. Learning to submit to what He is doing. Learning to submit to the changes He is making in us. Learning to submit to His will instead of fighting to do our will. Notice in verse six that we are still in His hand. That means that He could crush us if He ever wanted to. That means He could discard us if He ever wanted to. That means He could break us at any moment if He wanted to. But our Potter loves us, and He wants to remake us into something special.

This passage teaches us that if we will just repent and submit to the Potter, He will literally change his mind about our deserved judgement. This means that God wants so desperately to make us into something useful. He loves us so much that He wants the absolute best for our lives. He just wants us to give Him the chance to be the “Potter” that He is. Believe me, He is able!