Jeremiah 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. 4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.”
What does it mean for a person to come to the Divine Potter with the acute realization that s/he is nothing but clay in one sense, but also that one is a sinful lump of clay that deserves nothing but Divine wrath? This is one of the great battles of the soul that causes people to flee from the teaching of Scripture on the sovereignty of God. When one comes to the realization of this, it leaves one naked and helpless before God with nothing about self and nothing that self can do to move God to show mercy. When one sees that the only way for one to flee from sin is to petition the restraining grace of God, it is not comfortable. When one sees that his or her heart has been hardened by God, one sees that his or her heart can only be softened by God. When one sees something of the depth of the words of Jesus that no one can do good apart from Him, it is not comfortable and it throws one upon grace for justification and grace for sanctification as well. Justified sinners and unjustified sinners are in His sovereign hands and He can do with them as He pleases. So how does one come to the Divine Potter when one is clay?
Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities. 8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand. 9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD, Nor remember iniquity forever; Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.
The proper way to come before the Lord is with humility and brokenness of mind and heart, but not just a shallow humility, but instead one that is consistent with clay being before the Divine Potter. It sees itself as unclean, with even its best works or deeds as filthy and nasty, and completely at the mercy of God if He turns a person over to the power of their own sin. Humble minds and hearts know that they do not call upon the Lord and do not rouse themselves to take hold of Him, but they also know that they do not do so because the LORD has hidden His face from them. These humbled and broken hearts know that they have been delivered into the power of their sin and they know that they are clay and He is the Potter and He is just and righteous to do with them as He pleases.
The proper way to come before the Lord of all and the Divine Potter is with humility of mind seeking a deeper humility of mind. The humble mind will bow deeply before the Lord knowing that it can know nothing spiritual apart from what God reveals to it. The humble mind will know that it can do nothing spiritual of itself and so it will seek the Lord. The humble mind will seek to know what God’s will rather than what it wants to know. The humble mind will know that there are many things that it cannot grasp so it bows to what God reveals. The humble mind will not try to tell God what is needed, but instead seek to find out what is needed in order to pray and seek.
Another aspect of coming the Divine Potter is to come with a humbled heart. This is a heart that knows that it cannot have a holy desire or affection apart from the grace of God working that in the soul. This is the heart that knows that it cannot love God apart from the grace of God giving that soul a love for Himself .The humble heart knows that in order to present holy desires before the Lord it must seek those from the Lord who gives those by grace alone. The humble heart comes to the Divine Potter seeking to be made into an instrument in accordance with what the Potter desires and so desires to be an instrument of His glory. The Divine Potter works on the clay by forming it, watering it (water of the Word), and then by Divine wisdom and power making it just as He pleases which is formed to be what He desires. Jesus said that the greatest among you is the most humble. The most humble is a soul that is most emptied of self and full of Christ. That is the soul that sees more of the Lord and prays for His glory more than the most brilliant of men. The humble soul is one formed by the Lord for His pleasure and glory and is getting softer and softer (as clay) in His hand to be ready for more conforming.
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