God is the Potter, I am the clay

The Lord said to Jeremiah: “Go down at once to the potter’s house. I will speak to you further there.” So I went down to the potter’s house and found him working at his wheel.

Jeremiah 18:1-3

Jeremiah’s trip to the potter’s house is one of my favorite pictures of God. The short story, covered in just a few verses, is packed with meaning. Today, I reflect on the fact that when Jeremiah arrived at the potter’s house, he found the potter working at his wheel. The hands of the potter were enmeshed in the clay. It’s a marvelous portrayal of the Creator. Reflect for a moment on how the first chapter of Jeremiah begins. It begins with a description of how Jeremiah has been appointed by God to be a prophet (1:5). The description relates to the story of the potter. God spoke to a young man named Jeremiah and told him “before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you”. This description of the creative work of God prior to Jeremiah’s birth is closely related to the work of the potter on the clay. In fact, the same Hebrew word is found in the text of both passages. Take time today to consider how God has formed you and is forming you. Pottery is both useful and beautiful. Eugene Peterson writes,

“The life of faith is very physical. Being a Christian is very much a matter of flesh – of space and time and things. It means being thrown on the potter’s wheel and shaped, our entire selves, into something useful and beautiful. And when we are not useful or beautiful we are reshaped. Painful, but worth it.”