“The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it?” Romans 9:20

God’s word is always relevant. I just notice that sometimes we people get so used to hearing something said the same way that we become numb to it. The message doesn’t lose its efficacy, but the delivery system fails. As a mother of 9, I find myself ministering to two generations of young people (5-25). I see the differences in how my children communicate, and it’s important that I keep up with them so that they understand what I’m teaching them and so that they can be a voice of reason among their peers.

Because of this, I have been praying for new and creative ways of teaching God’s unchanging truth to young people. Statistics are showing that the generation which has grown up with digital learning is now exhibiting a desire for real, person to person relationships. For worship without production. For hands on learning. Can we make the shift that is necessary to connect with them?

If you’ve been in Christian circles very long, you’re likely familiar with the topic I’m sharing today, but I hope that it is presented with a fresh flair that grabs your attention and gives you a new way of sharing with others.

In Jeremiah 18, God describes Himself as a Potter and people as clay. When a potter begins to work clay, he knows exactly what he plans to make from it. If what he is making is not turning out well, he will collapse the clay and rework it to make something new. Just like a lump of new clay, God has a plan for each one of us, but we can’t enjoy the full life that He wants for us apart from Him. Left to our own plans, we will be misshapen and full of flaws, but if we are yielded to God’s plans, our lives will be beautiful –full of God’s character and grace.

People who are living life without God are CLAY that is:

C -CREATED by God

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  John 1:3

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

 L -LOVED by God

“We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love…” 1 John 4:16a

A -Adulterated by sin

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Romans 3:23

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which your formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working I the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Ephesians 2:1-2 (Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus.)

Y -Yearning

As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;  Psalm 42:1 & 2a

As Ephesians 2 said, sinful people are living to fulfill the desires of their flesh. Because our sin separated us from God, we feel the void and yearn to fill it with anything and everything that feels good to us. Jeremiah 2:13 describes this as giving up the fountain of living waters (God) to dig cisterns, underground water storage containers, that are broken and let the water seep out (placing our hope in other things). We are all created with a thirst for God, and nothing can satisfy us except God himself.

Restoration is given to those who have understood that they are spiritually dead and separated from God because of their sin. They believe that Jesus is the Son of God and lived a perfect life.  He never sinned and so He had no debt to pay for Himself. He did not deserve punishment, but He died—taking the punishment for every single person. Jesus was buried and He rose again. Anyone can receive forgiveness by trusting what Jesus did for them and FOLLOWING Him. To follow is to obey.

People who are living restored are CLAY that is:

C -CHOSEN by God

1 Peter 1:1-2 explains that Christians are “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled by His blood…”

Every person receives the invitation to be restored to right relationship with God. It is Jesus’ innocent blood that makes us clean, and it is His Holy Spirit who works in our hearts to continually develop Christ-like character in our lives.  

L -LOVED Eternally

A -ADOPTED as God’s Sons and Daughters

Y -YIELDED to God’s will  

Paul sums this all up in Ephesians 1:3-14 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.  In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” Emphasis Mine.

This short video clip is a great visual aid to show how the potter works at molding the clay, reshaping it when it isn’t cooperating! But keep reading below to get the full picture!

We are still here in an imperfect world where we make mistakes. Where other people’s sin hurts us. What about the broken? The Japanese have a method of mending pottery that is called Kintsugi. Broken pieces are put back together with gold seams, and the repaired pottery is considered more valuable than when it was new. That is how God views us when we are walking with Him.

The “seams” are our testimony.

Grace mends.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;” 2 Corinthians 4:7

Cover photo by Image SEBASTIEN MARTY from Pixabay