A Word to the Clay

 Jeremiah 18:7-10

A word to the clay from the Potter; “If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.”

The message God is extending to the people of Judah is blessing and curses, and it is not a new message, for it was given to them when they were under Moses watch care, and now many years later, once more God who loves them is reminding them this life is a choice.   As parents, we understand that choices in life can bring blessing or curses.  That is why we instruct our children from a young age to not touch the stove top it may be hot, do not play in the street for a driver might not see you, and as they become teenagers to pick your friends wisely in that bad company corrupts good morals.  But a child will touch the stove top and often get burned, a child will run into the street after a ball and get hit by a car, and teens often, way too often pick the wrong friends and make mistakes that leave scars and break their parent's heart.

How many times does the Lord have to tell His people the ramification of sin, and the blessing of obedience?  Deuteronomy 28 has a clear picture of a loving Father proclaiming to His child the blessing of obedience, and the pitfalls of rebellion, and 

remember it is the Potter who makes the rules.

So how does this affect those who have entered into a relationship with Jesus, is it still about choices?  The answer is found in John 3:16-21, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

I will never forget the message I was taught as a young man, as a baby in Christ, when walking into a dark room and the pastor asking me where were these people when we came in?   And I answered they were sitting all around us, but we came out of the light and into darkness and could not see them.  He looked at me and said, young man, that is how sin works, the longer we stay in the darkness of sin the lighter it becomes.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice