Shaped

Isaiah 64:8 -‘But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter;
and we all are the work of thy hand.

Romans 9:21 – Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Two scriptures this morning. I have come to love Isaiah, in particular because I am starting to see how much of Isaiah is in the New Testament. In a quick search, one author I read found 55 direct quotes overall, and another found that Jesus quoted from Isaiah 8 times. Those numbers don’t include allusions (passing references without specific mentions), which makes the numbers much higher.

I include both of these verses to share two thoughts. First, the Bible is a unified book. That’s important to understand as we piece together the faith day by bay.

The second is the message of God’s sovereignty in our lives. He has supreme power and authority. As much as we would like to think that we are wise enough to shape ourselves or the world around us, the Bible teaches that our God is the potter.

This is both humbling and comforting. Humbling because we acknowledge that we are under the mighty hand of God, to be used according to his purposes, pleasure and glory. Comforting, because he is good. That doesn’t mean we understand everything that he does. We live in bodies is clay and live short lives here. But the same Bible that teaches us that he is the potter teaches us about his love for us.

-Pastor C.