Day 3: The Machine Shop

Jeremiah 18:1–4 (NIV): “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.”

While making my rounds on the ship, I stopped in to see the personnel in the machine shop. Their job was to take hard metal and, with the aid of special machines, shape it into components that were needed to replace parts that had been damaged or broken. I marveled as I saw some of the hardest materials known to humankind shaped, trimmed, and transformed into the exact replica of the needed part.

My awe must have been akin to that of Jeremiah as he watched the potter at the wheel and heard the voice of God give him a valuable object lesson. He saw misshapen pieces transformed at the whim of the potter. I, too, saw raw materials turned into valuable parts. What a joy to know that God has the power to turn willing members of his creation into replicas of himself. Please consider:

When I am stubborn, Lord, and hard to bend like steel,
God, mold me and make me, shape me according to your will.
Constrain me to understand your purpose each and every day,
Jesus, you are the potter, please make me the clay.

Questions to Consider:

• What are some hard personality traits that I need to work on?
• Am I willing to ask God for help?

Reflection for the Day:

• Consider the joy of being fashioned by the Lord!