Oct 29 – THE HEAVENLY POTTER AND HIS VESSELS!

“Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honour and another for dishonour?” (Romans 9:21).
When we read the life histories of many saints in the Scripture, we come to know that they are bruised and broken before being brought up by the grace of God. Only when one submits himself to get broken, God could make him a vessel of honour.
How broken the heart of Abraham would have been when God asked him to sacrifice his only son! How sad his heart would have been when he travelled for three days with Isaac towards the hill where Isaac had to be sacrificed! Why did God guide him through such a path? Yes. The reason is nothing but to make him a vessel of honour.
The life of Job also was the same. When the house collapsed and his ten children died under the debris, how sad saint Job’s heart might have been to see the mutilated bodies! The loss of cattle and the other properties may not be too big. But what a big loss it is for one to lose all his ten children in an accident. His sufferings did not come to an end with this.
Further, he suffered from terrible wounds and deadly pimples and God guided him through the fire of cupellation. God taught Job the necessity of getting broken. But after all these testing times, Job came out as gold. He gained a prominent place in the Scripture.
When God wants to make a man a vessel of honour, the first thing He does is to take him in the path of suffering and purify him. A potter may make earthen vessels. A carpenter may make furniture. But, how are the vessels made by God called? It is nothing but vessels of glory (Romans 9:23).
The vessels made by the heavenly potter are the vessels made from the riches of His mercy. He extends His love and mercy even to the undeserving persons and makes them the vessels of mercy. He pours the divine mercy on them immeasurably and increases the grace, further and further.
Dear children of God, He, who is the heavenly potter, likes to make you a vessel of grace and use. Do not get frightened at the sufferings and come forward to submit yourself for the purpose.
To meditate: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace” (John 1:14, 16).