To Know or Know Not...

He who knows not and ...
.... knows not that he knows not is a fool. Shun him.
.... knows that he knows not is a child. Teach him.

He who knows and...
.... knows not that he knows is asleep. Wake him.
.... knows that he knows is wise. Follow him.

--Author unknown

Power of the Clay

Excerpts from J Vernon McGee

Don't speak disparagingly of the clay! It has marvelous capacity and resilience. This is what the Potter wants--clay. He doesn't want steel. He doesn't want oil. He doesn't want rock. He wants clay. He wants something that He can put in His hand to mold and fashion. This is the stuff He is after--clay. God wants to work with human beings.

The clay on the wheel down at the potter's house has no will. I do! That clay cannot cooperate with the potter. I can! Man today has free will, and he can exercise it. We can cooperate with the Potter.

I do not believe that life's big decisions are made in a church sanctuary. I believe they are made out in the work-a-day world--in the office, in the school, in the workshop, at the crossroads of life--there is where the Potter is working with the clay.

Now I want to ask the Potter a question. What's your purpose in putting me on the potter's wheel? Why do You bear down on me? Why do You keep working with me? Why, Potter, do
You do this? What are You after?

Well, I go back to the potter's house. Follow me now very carefully. I do not discover the purpose, but I learn something more important than the purpose for my life. I learn that the potter has a purpose, which is more important to know.

I watch the potter there. He is serious. He means business. He's not playing with the clay. This is his work. He is giving his time, his talents, his ability to working with the clay.

Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And 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. Jeremiah 18:3-4

This tells me that God is not playing with me today. He is not experimenting with us. He has purpose. And friend, that comforts me. The Potter has a purpose!

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. I John 3:2

That's going to be a fair morning. And God will be vindicated--He was not being cruel when He caused us to suffer. Someday, some glorious someday, we'll see that the Potter had a purpose in your life and in mine.

In the ages to come we'll be a demonstration, and we'll be yonder on display. We will reveal what the Potter can do with lifeless clay. He gets the glory. It will be wonderful to be a vessel in the Master's hand!

Personality of the Clay - Dust, Dead, Helpless

Excerpts from J Vernon McGee

For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. Psalm 103:14

God remembers that we are dust, but man sometimes forgets, it, and he gets stuck on himself. And when dust gets stuck on itself, it's mud.

I look at the clay on that wheel down at the potter's house. That clay has no wish; it has no rights; it has no inherent ability. It is helpless, and it is hopeless.

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Ephesians 2:1

We were dead in trespasses and isn, without strength. God is the Potter with the power.

For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. Romans 9:15-16

When Moses pleaded with God, God siad to him, "Moses, I'm going to hear you, but I'm not going to hear you because you are Moses; I am going to hear you because I extend mercy." That's the reason God heard him.

God is not obligated to save any man. God is free to act as He wishes. He is righteous, and He is holy.

Power of the Potter

Excerpts from J Vernon McGee

Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And 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. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O 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. Jeremiah 18:3-6

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

Nowhere will you find such a graphic picture of the sovereignty of God than in this. Man, the clay upon the potter's wheel, and God, the Potter.

God is sovereign. The potter is absolute. That is, he has power over the clay and that power is unlimited. No clay can stop the potter, nor can it question his right. No clay can resist his will nor "say him nay," nor alter his plans. The clay cannot speak back to him.

God has incontestable authority. His will is inexorable, it is inflexible, and it will prevail. He has irresistible ability to form and fashion this universe to suit Himself. He has power to carry through His will and He answers to no one. He has no board of directors. He has no voters to whom he must respond. He has absolute authority. He is God. You and I live in a universe that is running to please God.

Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? Romans 9:19-21

Come Home - All The Way Home

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. Jeremiah 4:1

God is challenging Israel to repent.

1. Return unto me - like the prodigal son, return, go home to God. Not just leaving your current bad neighborhood in the far country and taking up residence in a different bad neighborhood in the far country. But going home - all the way home.

2. Put away thine abominations out of my sight - Don't bother packing up the idols we served in the far country, or the substances and vices that controlled us there. Put those abominations away out of God's sight. It's not enough to cleverly hide them behind a mask, but put them away out of God's sight. As long as they exist, aren't they in God's sight? So it's not just a putting away, tucking into a hidden corner of my heart, hiding from the sight of men, but it's a total destruction of those abominations.

And repentance doesn't mean just "taking off my mask". God didn't challenge Israel to "remove her mask", "be real", "be authentic", "be honest". God didn't challenge Israel to wear her abominations openly. He challenged her to destroy her abominations. Why has it suddenly become the noble thing to commit our sins openly?

God's view of repentance is more radical than ours, I believe. We think of it as a gradual change of direction. God thinks of it more like setting a bomb with a short fuse under our idol and then racing to flee from its eminent and total destruction.

Reminds me of Lot's flight from Sodom. Yes, Lot and company did indeed leave Sodom. Their outward actions suggested repentance and obedience. But their reluctance to leave reveals their heart in the matter. Didn't they stay as long as they could possibly stay? Leaving Sodom obviously grieved them in their hearts. Doesn't this indicate a lack of inward repentance?

We find that God wasn't satisfied with their outward repentance - leaving the city physically. He demanded inward repentance when He warned them not to even look back. He demanded that they abandon it with their very hearts, reserving no place of affection or sentimentality in their hearts.

I have a friend who always grieves over coming home from vacation, retreats, day trips, etc. She does everything she can do to prevent getting home. Extra stops along the way. Dragging out every stop as long as possible. Actually makes herself physically sick with the dread of getting home. Very puzzling. Why wouldn't she want to get home? Simple. She'd rather be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Her own home has no appeal for her. So is there something terribly wrong in her home? Or is there something terribly wrong in her heart?

Lately, it's become apparent that her dread of getting home is not confined to the physical realm. She's also been doing all she can do to prevent getting home to God. Why wouldn't she want to get all the way home to God? Simple. She'd rather be somewhere else. Anywhere else. God's home has no appeal for her. So is there something terribly wrong in God's home? Or is there something terribly wrong in her heart?

The current "stop" that she's dragging out as long as possible is this idea that we can build a relationship with God without going all the way home. A simple matter of re-writing the parable of the prodigal son, and Lot's flight from Sodom, and Jeremiah's prophecy to Israel, etc. A simple matter of re-defining what it means to come home. All the way home. God says, "return to me" first. Then He says, "put away thine abominations out of my sight." Come home. Come all the way home.