Of broken pots and flawed vessels:

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Jeremiah 18:4 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7

Have you ever tried to mend a broken clay or china pot? No matter how hard you try, regardless of

the quality or strength of the glues, there will always be a crack visible, or a flaw to remind you of the break.

One of my favorite possessions from my Mother’s estate is a small porcelain sculpture of a Clydesdale horse. It’s a finely detailed work, and my parents were given it as wedding present, 75 years ago. It was broken, long ago, when they were shifting house to accommodate a growing family. The horse now has a repaired front right leg…the job was poorly done, and the break is visible; the value of the piece has suffered, but its sentimental value to me is why I keep it.

Our Lord is into mending broken pots and flawed vessels…He loves to take an individual whose life has fallen to pieces and restore them to fullness. Sometimes He leaves a “hairline” crack or flaw to remind them of where they were rescued from, and sometimes we just love to pick the scab of that wound ourselves.

God can take the broken pieces of a shattered career, relationship, marriage or family and lovingly restore them, rebuilding that which the dark lord had tried to shatter. God, through the wonderful ministry of the Holy Spirit has been in the pot repair business since time immemorial. Countless millions have been redeemed from a Christ-less eternity and restored to their rightful place in the great cloud of witnesses that Paul wrote about in Hebrews 12:1. 

The price that Jesus paid for the pot shards is beyond our understanding; few of us can even begin to comprehend what Christ gave up in eternity to become sin for us. 

 

It is the pearl of great price that the merchant found… “Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls; who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46

Every time our Lord finds another broken or shattered pot He longs to buy it back, regardless of the condition he finds it in. No one is beyond redemption, unless of course, they place themselves there. A time arrives when even God finally gives up on those who constantly reject His grace.

And even as they did not think fit to have God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do the things not right. Romans 1:28  The Greek word for reprobate is adokimos (pronounced ad-ok'-ee-mos) and it means rejected, cast away as worthless.

Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and

to make another to dishonor? Romans 9:21

Even if we have been made into a vessel of honor, we must never loose sight of to whom the honor belongs… a vessel of honor does not  honor the vessel, but honors the master of the vessel.

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty. And the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His Presence. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29