"The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over." -Jeremiah 18:1-4 NLT
I remember well a recently retired United Methodist pastor who joined our church after he completed his official pastoral duties. Rev. Vassar Jones was an outstanding preacher and Christian, committed to the public worship of God. I first met Reverend Jones when I was a child and he pastored my grandmother’s church at Mt. Tirzah.
He was speaking one morning, at our Methodist Men’s group at Long Memorial, on the importance of daily devotions, especially early morning time with God. Rev. Jones made an analogy of life to sailing and “setting our rudder”. He likened morning devotion and prayer time to allowing God to re-set our rudder and spiritually guide us through our day. Like the potter and the clay, where the potter was unsatisfied with the vessel and reshaped it to better meet his needs. We should pray for -- and, like the clay, allow -- God to “crush” our plans, re-form us and set our rudder for the day to better accomplish his plan through us.
Prayer: Father, take away MY plans for the day and reset my rudder to follow you Lord and be the vessel you want me to be today. Amen.
--Ben Tillett
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