Centering a Piece of Rebellious Clay

   I recently started throwing pots on a potters wheel and like most beginners come face to face with the question, "  Is my clay centered?"  So in order to gain more insight as to whether or not I am centering correctly I went to watching some instructional videos.

The first video I watched today, as I struggled with the spending my early morning time reading my Bible instead, realized that this business of centering the clay has everything to do with stepping on the path of righteousness!
  
Jeremiah conveys to Israel the message from the LORD that gives us this concept of God being the potter so I know the Lord is in the business of centering pots!

18 This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Jeremiah, go down to the potter’s house. I will give you my message there.”

³ So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working with clay at the wheel. ⁴ He was making a pot from clay. But there was something wrong with the pot. So the potter used that clay to make another pot. With his hands he shaped the pot the way he wanted it to be.

⁵ Then this message from the Lord came to me: ⁶ “Family of Israel, you know that I can do the same thing with you. You are like the clay in the potter’s hands, and I am the potter.” 

Jeremiah noticed that there was something wrong with the clay that the potter was working with.  Then he watched the potter use that wrong pot to make another pot the way that he wanted it to be!

Modern day potters use wheels to help in the shaping of their pots but it seems that potters of Jeremiah's day had similar problems with unruly clay not wanting to conform to the potter's hands.  The potter cannot work with clay that is unruly and evidently has something wrong in the way that it is turning into a pot.

Just like the LORD, the potter can take a rebellious piece of clay and apply pressure to conform it and form it into a useful pot the way that he wants it to be for his purposes.

This message is from the Lord. ⁷ “There may come a time when I will speak about a nation or a kingdom that I will pull up by its roots or tear down and destroy it. ⁸ But if the people of that nation change their hearts and lives and stop doing evil things, I will change my mind and not bring on them the disaster I planned. ⁹ There may come another time when I speak about a nation that I will build up or plant. ¹⁰ But if I see that nation doing evil things and not obeying me, I will think again about the good I had planned to do for them.

¹¹ “So, Jeremiah, say to the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am the potter preparing troubles for you and making plans against you. So stop doing the evil things you are doing. Each person must change and start doing good.’

As the un-centered piece of rebellious clay needs to be pulled up by its roots and torn down in order to center it, so the Lord will do the same to the people that oppose His guidance and direction to get them on point with Jesus Christ at the center.  

To the people and nation that will change their hearts and lives and stop doing evil, he will change His mind and not bring disaster on them that He planned.  

In order for the clay (US) to be "turned" into a beautiful pot it (WE) must first be centered which initially takes pressure from the top and all sides.  Once the clay stops straying from the center of the potter's wheel, it has the potential to be molded and shaped into something useful and beautiful all at the same time.  

Let us position our rebellious hearts on the center, which is Christ Jesus alone and become useful in the hands of our Potter!

Amen!

You might want to watch and listen to what Simon says as he talks about the centering process and apply it to what God is saying to you right now so here is the link for the instructional video I watched.  I would love to hear what you gain from this so please feel free to comment on this post.