Fully Devoted-2: A Moldable Heart
Reading: Jeremiah 18:1-12
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. Jeremiah 18:4 (NIV)
I. Working with Clay
A. From mud to Magnificence
1. From dust we are created (Gen. 2:7).
a. God created us from the ground.
b. Adam is from adamah meaning dirt.
c. We are dirt God breathed life into.
2. That gooey gunk that sticks to our shoes and messes up the carpet, can be made into something amazing.
a. Ever been to a ceramic shop?
3. When God gets a hold of us, we might be pretty dirty, slimy characters, but God will make us into something beautiful.
a. God knows some stuff about working with clay.
b. The only thing the clay has to do is “Stay in the potter’s hands.”
B. Not what it Started out to be
1. The clay just started out being clay and the potter started to shape it.
a. Until it gets into the potter’s hands clay is just a special kind of mud.
2. The clay was defective and couldn’t be shaped as the potter first wanted.
a. The potter didn’t make a mistake.
3. The potter shaped the clay into something new.
a. We don’t always end up being what we thought God wanted us to be.
b. All we have to do is “Stay in the potter’s hands.”
C. A shape that Fits the clay
1. The master craftsman knows how to respond to the material to shape it.
a. He doesn’t throw away the clay, he tries a different shape.
2. God shapes us into something that incorporates our warts and defects.
a. Our own failures and shortcomings shape our humility and our ability to help others through the same things.
3. God shapes us into something beautiful.
a. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
b. All we have to do is “Stay in the potter’s hands.”
II. In the Hands of the Potter
A. We are in God’s hands (v. 6b)
1. Lesson 1: we are not the masters of our own destiny we wish we were.
a. “Don’t forget which one of us is supposed to be in charge here!”
2. God has the right to shape us as He sees fit — we don’t even have a right to complain.
a. He is the creator. We are the creation.
3. God don’t make no junk.
a. God saw everything he made and it was good.
b. Look in the mirror and you will see a work of art.
c. All we have to do is “Stay in the potter’s hands.”
B. God Responds to us
1. Lesson 2: If . . . if . . . if . . . if . . . (vv.7-10)
2. Although He is sovereign, He chooses to allow us to respond to his offer of grace and his decree of judgement.
a. He waits for us to respond.
b. He created us with the ability to choose because he wants us to choose.
3. God does not force us into a shape that won’t work for the kind of clay we are.
a. If we choose confession and repentance he will give us grace.
b. If we choose to believe we can’t rise above the clay we think we are (v.12) he will give us what we deserve.
c. All we have to do is “Stay in the potter’s hands.”
C. A Treasure in jars of clay
1. Lesson 3: He shapes us into jars in which he puts his greatest treasure (1Cor. 4:5-7)
a. Not here, but part of moldability.
b. God entrusts us with his treasures, though we are just terra cotta.
2. It is not merely the shape he gives us, but what he fills that shape with.
a. He shapes us into something beautiful, then fills us up with something even more beautiful.
3. Though we are His art, we are more than decoration, because of the use he gives us.
a. We aren’t supposed to be decorations in a church, but useful tools in his kingdom.
b. To become useful tools all we have to do is “Stay in the potter’s hands.”
III. Willing to be Shaped
A. Jeremiah Listens and observes
1. Are we willing to be shaped by the potter?
2. To be shaped means learning the passive virtues of listening, observing, waiting, etc.
a. Passive virtues seems like an oxymoron to us. But they are absolutely essential for spiritual growth
3. As Jeremiah goes to listen and observe and be shaped by what he sees.
a. So we go and listen and observe what God brings into our life and learn.
b. Jeremiah has already resolved to “Stay in the potter’s hands.”
B. Can we Trust the potter?
1. Can we trust the potter to make us into something we’ll like?
a. What if the potter makes me into a garbage pail? a pot for plants?
2. Can we trust the Potter to shape us into something he wants? Is that enough?
a. How do we get shaped into something beautiful? Stay in the potter’s hands.
C. Content with the shape
1. Is what God does with us, enough with us?
a. We often want more or something else for ourselves than God does.
2. Is OK with us that our shape is not the shape of our sister or brother?
a. Do we have “shape envy?”
3. Do we know our shape and are we delighted with what God is doing with our lump of clay?
a. How do you get to be something beautiful for God?
The Bottom Line:
| Let’s Rejoice that we are in the hands of a Master Craftsman. |
Song: Have thine own way (Red #388)