Vessels of Clay

“But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and all of us are the work of Thy hand*” (Isaiah 64:8).

There was a man and his wife who were exploring a cave by the seashore. In one of the caves, they found a canvas bag with clay balls inside. They were very hardened like they had been formed, then left in the sun to bake. The couple took the bag with them as they strolled along the shore. Along the way each of them threw away the clay balls one at a time as far as they could out into the ocean. Suddenly the wife dropped one of the clay balls on a rock which caused it to crack open. To their surprise, inside the clay ball was a beautiful, precious stone.

They were very excited and began braking open the rest of the balls. Each one contained similar treasures. They only had about twenty left, but knew there must be thou- sands of dollars worth of jewels contained within them. Suddenly it struck them that they had been on the beach a long time, and had thrown at least sixty clay balls containing hidden treasure, into the ocean.

It’s like that with people. Sometimes we see only the external clay vessel, and it may not look like much from the outside. People may not appear beautiful or sparkling as the jewels inside the clay balls, so we discount them when their real value may be like the woman in Proverbs 3l:30, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” Perhaps too, we have seen others as less important than someone we think is beautiful, stylish, wealthy, or famous, yet we never take the time to find their hidden character, and the good that may lie within.

Each of us has a treasure inside. Perhaps if we asked God to help us see others the way He sees them, the clay will peel away, reveal- ing their character, goodness, and loving kindness. 1 Samuel 16:7 teaches that “…God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Jesus must have seen the great value in those He chose for His apostles, like the fishermen, and even a tax collector.

We are told in Isaiah 55:8-9 that our thoughts and ways are not the thoughts and ways of the Lord. Let us see people as God sees them and in this way love and teach them to follow Him. Let us also make sure we are being molded by His Word, and that we can become precious in His sight. We are God’s work and when we disobey we bring Him dishonor. We see Jeremiah as he went to the potter’s house. The potter made a vessel which was marred, so the potter made the vessel again, and felt it was good. Then the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and said, “Cannot I do with you like the potter? As the clay is in the potters hand, so you are in my hand, Oh, house of Israel?” (18:3-6). The Lord is the same today. Note in Romans 9:21 that the potter has power over the clay. Our character is what God is concerned with.

Let us pray we will not come to the end of our lives and find we have thrown away a fortune in friendships, where righteousness was hidden inside. I have had many Chris- tian friendships throughout my life, and I have been richly blessed. Solomon wrote “The memory of the righteous is blessed” (Prov 10:7). I am thankful for those who have looked beyond my clay vessel, which I am.

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Abundant Life: September 2008

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