September 23
-ISAIAH 64:8 ESV
I went to a pottery once and watched the potter form a lump of clay into a jar. He demonstrated the technique and in his skilled hands the jar began to take shape. But there was something about it that was not quite right, something was a little off. I didn’t see anything wrong with it, but the potter did. So he just crushed the whole thing back into a shapeless lump like it was no big deal and started again.
Notice that he did not throw the lump away and say the lump was no good. Nor did he blame the lump for not turning out correctly. Nor did he get angry, frustrated, or upset. It was just easier for him to start over with the lump and work with it until it was perfect.
Well, that was encouraging to me! The lump really couldn’t do anything to help itself get any better, or make itself more worthy. It was just a lump, yielded to the potter’s hands.
