Good Morning All!!
Isaiah 64:8; “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we
are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Many years ago, back before satellite TV
when you used to get two or three channels, we used to watch a lot of PBS. On Saturdays they used to show most of the
craft and how-to shows. There was one that
I watched a few times called “The Potter’s Wheel”. The host of the show used to make pottery out
of clay by throwing the lump of clay on this spinning potter’s wheel and then,
using a lot of water, he would shape whatever the project of the day was.
Then one show, they showed his shop where
he stored the finished products. He had
thousands of bowls and vases and coffee cup sets. Some of those items were over ten years
old. I always thought that if I were a
bowl I would be that bowl; the one that was ten or twelve years-old sitting way
in the back in the dark collecting dust.
Not real useful, just sitting there collecting dust.
Sometimes in our faith walk we feel that
way. We watch as others in the church
can sing in ways that has to be the way angels sound. We listen to the organist make the organ sound
like a symphony. We listen to the
preacher and cannot imagine standing up in front of a group of people and
talking like he does. We just feel like
that bowl that sits there and collects dust.
We feel useless and of no value.
But that is only the devil whispering in your ear.
The truth is that God gives all his
children gifts and talents; those gifts and talents are just different from
other talents. He shapes us into the
vessels that he needs and wants us to be.
Some can sing like angels, or speak with ease or play a musical
instrument with all the skill of the greatest musicians. For some the talents and applying them to
service to God is easy but for some of us we need to look a little harder.
Maybe you like to sew, there are
organizations that remake clothes for veterans who have lost limbs in the war
and need their clothes altered. Maybe
you like to fish and hunt; there are dozens of boys and girls who need time
with a loving Christian to share that hobby.
Maybe you are a pretty good mechanic; there are families who can’t
afford to always take their car to the shop and could use a little help now and
then. Maybe your talent is having
experienced what the next person is going through and you can offer comfort and
support and even a little guidance. You
can offer to babysit, or go to visit shut-ins.
You can mow lawns. You can plant
a bigger garden and give the produce to someone in need. You can mentor someone who is trying to get
started and needs some advice.
In all these things, and many more, we are
the clay that God molds and shapes into the bowls and vases that he knows that
he needs. We just need to stop listening
to the whispers of the devil and instead listen to the call of the Spirit and
answer as Isaiah did,” Here am I, send me.”
Father of grace, you mold and shape us into
the disciples that you need and want us to be.
Help us to look and to see the works which you have laid out for us and
give us the courage to follow that path.
In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen
God’s
Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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