Jeremiah 18-22

by Adam Johnson


And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me:  "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."   -Jeremiah 18:4-6


God in His love and mercy declares to unfaithful Israel that He can remake and mold any vessel for His glory and their peace. How many second chances does anyone get? They get as many opportunities as necessary to be found pleasing in God's sight. What difficult task did the Lord set before Israel? Their task was simply to follow the Law and the Prophets until the time that the Messiah came. However, they instead chose to follow what everyone else did around them by sacrificing their children and offerings to false gods. God gave them opportunity to repent and change their evil ways or else He would bring circumstances that forced them to recognize that He was in control.

Our goal today is not to follow the Law and Prophets exclusively like the children of Israel, but those who have put their faith in Christ alone for salvation are to keep His commandments. "If you love me keep my commandments." It is not something we do to earn favor with God, but it is something we strive to do to please the One who called us out of darkness to His marvelous light. He gives us opportunities to continue to obey and show Him our love. He chastens us out of love so that we will come back to Him continually until the time we meet Him. 

Often people think God is callous and unfeeling about our circumstances, but it is not always just to chasten us for ignoring sin in our lives. The place we want to be is soft to His Word so that He can direct and bless us in our daily walk with Him. We never want to be directed simply by circumstances, but recognize they are placed there by Him so that we can know God in all aspects of our lives.