The Lord didn’t send him stream-side to look at raw clay, or to admire finished earthen jars on display in the market. He sent Jeremiah to a potter’s house to watch a work in progress. The prophet walked from that workroom with a message: God’s people will be shaped for BEST… if they want it enough to be as clay in his hands.
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 (Jer. 18:4).
True Freedom
The potter sees more than a moist lump of clay on his wheel. He sees the end picture and works towards it. His patient focus in turning the wheel and shaping the clay continues until the crafted work matches the image in his mind.
A minor defect can ruin the match. So, the potter breaks down the clay to remove the flaw. The delay isn’t a setback. It’s an important part of his work of love.
The visual lesson in the potter’s house was clear: the potter has full shaping power over the clay. It was important for Israel to understand: Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand (Jer. 18:6).
But, of course, there was a big difference between a potter’s house and the House of Israel. Living ‘clay’ has a will. Unless his people surrendered their will to the Potter’s, they would miss what he had in mind for them – the BEST life possible.
We live in the Potter’s magnificent new covenant house. The Glory of Christ fills the workroom and his Spirit is changing us from one level of his likeness to the next (2 Cor 3:17-18, Rom 8:29). To want it, and be willing for it, is true freedom.
It’s incremental – he forms us today for more of his best tomorrow. And last year’s shaping prepared us for the Potter’s ongoing work of love in the year ahead.
Our Answer
The year ahead will have a mix of mystery and the familiar. Much about its circumstances, happenings, and relationships is unknown to us. But not to the Potter. He sees clearly how we can be shaped for best through the journey. But he asks us the same question he gave to Israel: Can I not do with you as this potter does? (Jer 18:6)
We won’t understand every movement of the Potter’s hand in our lives. But we’re convinced of his perfect love and wise plans for our best. So, our answer is not a mild, yes, you can, but a wholehearted, YES, PLEASE DO!
Use the points below to pray from Jer 18:4. The aim of the prayer guide is to celebrate life on the Potter’s wheel in the year ahead. The guide is longer than usual, so plan to return to it regularly.
so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
ADMIRATION
- PRAISE the Father’s love. He rescued us for a life of freedom on his Potter’s wheel. Exalt him for a love that has designed nothing less than BEST for you.
- THANK the Potter for his patient kindness, even when life’s distractions or disappointments made you less yielding in his hands. Thank him for never excluding you from the miracle of being formed into Christ’s likeness.
- CELEBRATE freedom! Express gladness at having both the desire and the will for what the Lord calls BEST. Rejoice (with the Potter) at the gift of another day of life on his Love-managed shaping wheel.
HUNGER
Tell the Lord of your longing to be changed more, of your desire to be a clearer reflection of him, of your eagerness to live the plans he has for you, and of your passion to reach for everything that he sees as BEST for your life throughout the year ahead.
CONSECRATION
As an expression of trust in the Potter’s love and wisdom, present yourself as clay yielded to be shaped for BEST in this season of your life-journey…whatever the cost or inconvenience.
ASK
- Ponder Isaiah 48:17, I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you. Ask the Lord to teach you things in the year ahead that will shape your values and choices in line with his best.
- Ask for the Spirit’s power in order to keep choosing his best and refusing whatever works against it.
DECLARE
The year ahead, a pivotal shaping period in your life. Announce (to the Lord and to yourself) your readiness to be shaped for BEST. Dark spiritual powers are threatened by the Christ-likeness changes that take place on the Potter’s wheel, and will try to hinder them. Shout your bold resolve to be changed, and write a note of intention to yourself that, with the Spirit’s help, you will not give up this freedom.
MEDITATE
Ponder the words, shaping it as seemed best to him. Review your above prayer responses. Then meditate on this one aspect: the JOY of the Potter over your desire to be shaped as he sees best.
The above is a modified version of my 2021 post by the same title.
