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May I Be Pliable
John TiltonJeremiah 18:1-6
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from theLord:“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 theLordcame to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares theLord. “Like clayin the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,Israel.
Jeremiah’s word from the Lord was specific and clear of God’s love, grace and warning to the people of Israel of His desire, like a potter to guide and mold them into who He desired them to be; if they would be pliable and heed His will. The Lord immediately and metaphorically points out their sin of being “marred” in the potter’s hands. Yet, like the potter who holds the ultimate destiny of the clay and pot to be, so to would the Lord hold their destiny in His hands, forming them into what seems best to Him, if they were obedient.
I want to heed God’s guidance and support in my life to be pliable as he works in my life, calling me to be the man, husband, father, pastor and friend as I serve Him in life and ministry. I know that there is a propensity to hold on to my past, pride and ways of the past in my beliefs and tendencies. However, I know that more so, God has and will continue to call me to allow His word and guidance through the Holy Spirit to be pliable and moldable, even if the changes in my life challenge me and are painful; for I know that His will for my life is for good and not to harm me. Part of what I need to remember is that when I am challenged, to seek what He might be asking me to change in my thinking and beliefs rather than to consider first how I am being effected or what’s in it for me. Thus, I need to put His will before my desires and pride, which through His word in my heart is the water on the clay that keeps me pliable and moldable as I spin on His potter’s wheel.
Dear Lord, may you continue to water me through Your word as I spin on your wheel of life so that I will be pliable and moldable, and not marred by my past and pride.
