"Arise, and go down to the potter's house; and there I will cause thee to hear my words." - Jeremiah 18:2
Yes, Lord, with the first of the morning will I arise, and go down at
thy command, where, by the secret and silent whispers of thy divine
teaching, I may gather suitable instructions for interpreting all thy
dispensations, both in providence and grace, towards me. Mark, my soul,
the vessel marred in the hand of the potter. Alas, how hath our nature
been marred since it came out of the hand of our Almighty Potter! Will
the potter cast his vessel away? No, he will new make it. Oh thou
glorious Lord! methinks I hear thy words in this, for thou hast not
thrown us away, but hast new made us, and more blessedly made us in
Christ Jesus. My soul, art thou indeed thus new made, a vessel unto
honour, sanctified and meet for the master's use? Attend then to thy
proper character, and never lose sight of it. Refer every act of mercy
and favour in thy original creation, in thy new creation, when marred
by sin, and in all the appointments and dispensations, both in nature,
providence and grace, in which thou art placed, to the sovereign will
and pleasure of Jehovah, thine Almighty Potter. All the different
forms, and the different ends, for which the whole is appointed, result
from his sovereignty, in which the richest display of wisdom and of
love is shewn. "Shall the thing formed say unto him that formed it, why
hast thou made me thus?" Much less in any of the dispensations, either
in providence or grace, shall any say, why dost thou use me thus?
Precious Jesus, it is enough to be new made in thee; to be new formed
in thy blessed likeness; to be taken into thy service; and to be made a
meet vessel for the master's use in thy family. Thy church is as a
great and well-furnished house, where there are not only vessels of
gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth. And if my Lord
condescend to look on me, to use me, nay, to bring me into his house
and family, that I may be always under his own gracious eye; how humble
so ever the place or lowly the station, to belong to Jesus is the
supreme honour of all his saints. My soul, make frequent visits to the
potter's house, and never fail to go down there whenever any temptation
from the enemy, or thine own heart, causeth thee to forget thy
creatureship, and the wonders of a marred creature, being new made in
Christ Jesus.
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