The Potter’s House
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 43, “Before I Formed Thee in the Belly I Knew Thee,” on Gospel Library
Start
The Lord sent Jeremiah to a potter’s workshop to watch him work (Jeremiah 18:1–3).
Read Together
A potter shapes wet clay on a spinning wheel. If the pot goes wrong, he can press the clay back into a lump and start over, as long as it is still wet.
3Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 6O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
What It Teaches
In verse 4, the pot was “marred in the hand of the potter.” The potter kept the clay. “He made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”
Then the Lord says, “as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand” (verse 6). Our mistakes can mar us. When we repent, Jesus Christ takes the same clay and makes something good of it.
Clay has to stay soft to be shaped. In the next chapter, Jeremiah smashes a hardened clay jar in front of the city’s elders, a vessel “that cannot be made whole again” (Jeremiah 19:10–11). Soft clay can be reshaped. A heart stays soft through prayer, humility, and a willingness to change.
Talk About It
What helps a heart stay soft, so the Lord can shape it? When have you seen the Lord make something good out of a mistake?
Take to Church
When a pot was marred, the potter kept the clay and made it again. The Lord does the same with us when we stay soft in his hands.