In The Word
Read: Jeremiah 17:19-18:23
The Sabbath Must Be Kept
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: “Take care for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your forefathers. 23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks so as not to listen or accept discipline.
24 “But it will come about, if you give your attention to Me,” declares the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to keep the Sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, 25 then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and officials sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the areas surrounding Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to Me, to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will set fire to its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not go out.”’”
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word that 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 So 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 “Am I not able, house of Israel, to 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, house of Israel. 7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot it, to tear it down, or to destroy it; 8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I planned to bring on it. 9 Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; 10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will relent of the good with which I said that I would bless it. 11 So now, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am forming a disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Now turn back, each of you from his evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds!”’ 12 But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will persist in the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
13 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:
‘Just ask among the nations,
Who ever heard anything like this?
The virgin of Israel
Has done a most appalling thing.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon leave the rock of the open country alone?
Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign landever dried up?
15 For My people have forgotten Me,
They burn incense to worthless gods.
And they have stumbled in their ways,
In the ancient roads,
To walk on paths,
Not on a highway,
16 To make their land a desolation,
An object of perpetual hissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
And shake his head.
17 Like an east wind I will scatter them
Before the enemy;
I will show them My back and not My face
In the day of their disaster.’”
18 Then they said, “Come and let’s devise plans against Jeremiah. Certainly the Law is not going to be lost by the priest, nor advice by the wise, nor the divine word by the prophet! Come, and let’s strike at him with our tongue, and let’s pay no attention to any of his words.”
19 Give Your attention to me, Lord,
And listen to what my opponents are saying!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?
For they have dug a pit for me.
Remember how I stood before You
To speak good in their behalf,
So as to turn Your wrath away from them.
21 Therefore, give their children over to famine
And turn them over to the power of the sword;
And let their wives become childless and widowed.
Let their men also be slaughtered to death,
Their young men struck and killed by the sword in battle.
22 May a cry be heard from their houses
When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;
For they have dug a pit to capture me
And hidden snares for my feet.
23 But You, Lord, know
All their deadly schemes against me;
Do not forgive their wrongdoing
Or wipe out their sin from Your sight.
But may they be overthrown before You;
Deal with them in the time of Your anger!
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Has God ever had you go somewhere to see something and then had spoken to you through a visual analogy? If so, then you are not alone. God asked Jeremiah to get up and go to the potter’s house so that He could speak to him. Jeremiah witnessed the clay, in the hands of the potter, turning on the wheel. As the potter spun the wheel, he used his hands to mold the clay. This potter was displeased with the way the vessel was turning out, so he remade it into another shape more pleasing to him.
As Christians, our Potter is our Father in heaven. Our lives are placed upon His wheel; our Potter has complete control over the wheel in which our lives move on. He uses His hands along with water (the Word), to mold us into the very image of His Son Jesus Christ. Our lives are not ours, and we must make Jesus Lord and not just the Savior of our lives. When He is our Lord, then we won’t have a problem with the way He is molding us. How can we ask the Creator, “Why are you making me this way?” (Isaiah 45:9)
We must remember that God works all things for good when we are called according to His purposes. Right now, in your life, are you guilty of questioning the way God is shaping you? God will always mold us into the image of His Son; this is His desire for us and should be ours as well.