Lumps of Clay

The main message of the gospel is summed up in John 3:16 where Jesus says, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” It goes on to say that the reason for sending Jesus was not to judge us, but to save us. The only judgement is for not believing. But then in verse 19 he goes on to say, “God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”

Have you ever done anything that you knew was wrong, so you did it at night, in the dark, where no one else could see? God sent Jesus to be the light of the world, the greatest gift ever given. Everyone should be running toward that gift and ripping it open as fast as possible. But do you really want His light to shine on your life and expose everything you’ve been up to? For many years I knew Jesus, but I only opened a little corner of that gift, just to take a peek. I wanted to deal with my “junk” on my own. I was afraid of what he might find, what he might want me to get rid of, and how he might go about it. Some of it I wanted to hang onto, and some I just wanted to keep hidden where no one would ever find it.

I prayed, “forgive me of my sins” but didn’t actually name any of them. God knows what they are, right? So I’ll just keep them buried where I can control them, and a blanket “forgive me” prayer should do the trick. But did I really believe in His forgiveness if I was afraid to admit my sins to him? I didn’t actually trust that I was worthy of that kind of grace. When I finally let Him bring specific sins to mind and convict me of them, then named them and asked forgiveness for each one, I could feel them let go of me. It wasn’t always fun to bring up old memories, some I had buried for good reason, but the freedom on the other side…amazing grace for real!

John 3:30 says, He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. It doesn’t sound like what the world tells us to do. We’re supposed to build ourselves up and be strong, right? But it’s an optical illusion, because as I give up more and more of my plans and ideas so that His plans can take over, I become more and more my true self, the one he created me to be. He is the creator, I am his masterpiece…and so are you.

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. Isaiah 64:8

Clay can’t make itself into anything valuable on its own. It just sits there in a lump until the potter takes over and molds it into something. It’s probably not fun for the clay to be pushed, and stretched, and spun, and twisted, and carved into the potter’s vision for it. But the end result is beautiful, useful, meaningful. The potter makes each piece unique. They have different uses, different sizes, different appearances. A true artist makes no two pieces exactly alike, and God is definitely a master artist. So stop comparing yourself to other people, or to your own view of what you think you should be. Stop comparing what God made you to do, to what God made your friends to do. Your past has made you into a unique lump of clay. Now surrender, let Him work out all of the impurities that you’ve picked up along the way, and let Him mold you into his vision that he planned for you. You may be surprised when you always thought you’d be a dessert plate, but you end up as a water pitcher!