A Lump Of Clay

Isaiah 64:8 (NLT)

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father.
      We are the clay, and you are the potter.
      We all are formed by your hand.

Do you remember as a kid making things out of clay? It always started out as a brick of clay...or a lump. It wasn't formed into anything yet. You would sit and play with it and form it into shapes to look like something. When you were through playing generally you would destroy it...crush it...and it would become just a lump of clay again. Eventually it would be dirty and even get things in it at times. What would you do with it then? For me it would usually get thrown away and if I were lucky I could get some more. I started thinking about this because of a song I have been hearing on the radio everyday...

He Didn't Throw The Clay Away sung by the Lesters written by Gene Reasoner. Here are the lyrics...

Empty and Broken, I came Back to Him
A Vessel Unworthy, so scarred from Sin.
But He did not Despair... He Started over again
And I Bless the Day, He didn't Throw the Clay Away.

Over and Over, He Molds Me and Makes Me,
Into His likeness, He fashions the clay.
A vessel of Honor, I Am today,
All because Jesus Didn't Throw The Clay Away.

He is the Potter... I am the Clay
And Molded in His Image, HE wants me to Stay.
Oh, but when I Stumble...
When I Fall... When My Vessel Breaks,
He just Picks up those Pieces,
He does not Throw the Clay Away.

The words of this song are so true. When we first accept Jesus we are empty and broken and unworthy. He takes us and remakes us...reshapes our life. But sometimes we go our own way. We mess up...do things we shouldn't. Maybe we even walk away for a time. We start thinking we are worth nothing. Just like that old piece of clay we get dirty...get things in us that don't belong. We think we should just be thrown away. But that's not what God thinks. All we have to do is just turn back to Him and He does just what this song says. He starts over again...remaking us...remolding us...He would never throw us away. He just starts as if we are a new lump of clay. He puts us on His potters wheel and starts reshaping our lives. He makes us into something He can use for His good.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NLT) says this...

The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the Lord gave me this message:  “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.  

Where the verse says. "O Israel,...I insert my name there. "O Chelle. Now read it with your name in it.

In my mind I have deserved, more than once, to be crushed and thrown away. But that's not what He does. He loves me too much for that. The Lord is the Master Potter and He just wants to remake me. That's what I want...to be remolded...for Him to be the Master Potter of my life. I want, and need Him, to crush me into a fresh lump of clay and remake me whenever I need it...whenever I sin and am broken and empty...whenever I might walk away for a time. That is the only way I will be whole again. The only way I can be a vessel He can use.

How about you? Do you want to be a vessel He can use? Let Him crush you and remake you. Remember...He will never throw you away. He will just make you into His image if you will let Him.