THE POTTER AND THE CLAY One day to Jeremiah the Lord did voice Now, arise. The potter’s house go to A lesson for you to make a choice.

So, he obeyed, as a smart one would do.

The potter’s hands made a vessel of clay.

It was marred, so he made another pot.

Jeremiah then could hear the Lord say: O house of Israel, can you be taught?

You have a chance to be saved from my hands That can pluck and pull down. So speak to all.

Turn your nation from evil; save your lands.

Tell them to do only good and not fall.

But, oh, they turned against His hope to save, Yet His Son suffered for them, His life He gave.

(Note: I wrote this in 2007, but we can’t help but see it as a warning for our nation today.)

From the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 18:1-11, God uses 2 great truths. (1) that God has both an incontestable authority and an irresistible ability to form and fashion kingdoms and nations as He pleases to serve His own purposes. God has a clearer title to a dominion over us than the potter has over the clay; whereas we have both matter and form from God. This explains God’s sovereignty over us. (2) Praise God that He goes by fixed rules of equity and goodness and He never punishes by arbitrary power. In ways of judgment, we may be sure that it is for our sins--national repentance will stop the progress of the judgments. This is a Christian’s prayer for our country. These words are shared from a favorite Bible reference, MATTHEW HENRY’S COMMENTARY, by Zondervan publishers. Copyright in 1960.

Further Notes: This was my second attempt at summing up the gist of a Book or a part of a Book from the Bible. This form of poetry is called a Shakespearian Sonnet. My New Year’s resolution is to continue to attempt this. For one to apply to write a poem or essay of a book from the Bible, one will have to read the Book over and over to be able to condense the message from the Book into 14 lines. The last 2 lines is a summation of what happens--( Here, from a warning from God.)

I’m thankful my shoulder surgery is over. I have had several different surgeries in my years and am always amazed how God created our bodies to heal after doctors do their part. “We are fearfully and wonderfully made!” (My challenge to you: find those words in the Bible.) Have a blessed week.