Are You Being Remade?
We used to live in a place in the great state of Tennessee that had beautiful red clay. All the dirt around our house was clay. We could barely dig a hole in that clay! It was some tough dirt.
The Lord likens our lives to clay. Clay that a potter uses is moldable, pliable, and shapeable. The hard clay that is dry, hard, and un-moldable is not useful to the potter.
The Lord speaks of Jeremiah’s people, Israel, in Jeremiah 18. The Lord wanted to do more than just repair them; He wanted to remake them.
Jeremiah 18:1-10 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 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. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 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. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 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. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Recently, we were looking at a wall in a room in our house. The wall needed some construction attention. Drywall and drywall mud is kind of like clay. We had hoped to repair the drywall, but there was so much damage, we needed to start over with the wall. We tore the whole wall out and put new sheet-rock up in its place. Instead of repairing the wall, we remade the wall.
Repairs to walls or pottery will generally leave a mark. A cracked vessel will reveal the repair when light is shined on it. A section of wall that has been repaired will be evident as it does not match up exactly.
Starting over and remaking a clay pot will make the old broken vessel new, useful, and valuable. Repairs to vessels, such as a pot, do not always hold water the right way. They may not fulfill their intended function. Remaking it -makes it over again – the way it was intended to be in the first place.
As Christians, we do not want to merely repair ourselves. We want to be remade by the Lord. We do not want to be remade into a “better image of ourselves.” We want to be remade into the image of Jesus.
When dealing with other people, please know that if they have a submissive heart to the Lord, then He is remaking them into His image. Be patient with other people. Be thankful for the Master Potter Who is shaping the lives of those Christians around you.
Take one turn on the potter’s wheel to apply this truth to yourself. Be pliable clay and let the Lord shape and mold you. Do not grow dry and unuseful. Be moldable into the image of Jesus. Be thankful that the Master Potter is still working on you to make you the new person that God wants you to be – more like Jesus.
Pray each day to have a heart and life that is submissive to the will of the Master Potter. Are you being Remade?
EDC Christian 