God is the Potter and we are the clay…

What does it mean to “delight” yourself in the Lord?

Psalms 37:4
“DELIGHT yourself also in the LORD; and he shall give you the desires of your heart.”

(Olive Tree Enhanced Strong’s Dictionary)
Dictionary Definition

DELIGHT in Hebrew h6026. עָנַג ‘ânag̱: a primitive root meaning to be soft or pliable.

God is the Potter – We are the Clay

by Michael Bradley

One of the most powerful analogies in the Bible regarding our transformation and sanctification in the Lord has to be the analogy of the potter and the clay. The Bible says that God is the Potter and we are the clay.

It is up to God to mold, transform, and sanctify us as we journey through this earthly life.

Whenever God gives us a specific analogy in the Bible, this means that we have to seek into the revelation of that analogy in order to pick up what He is trying to tell us with the analogy.

If we do, then we will see exactly what God is trying to tell us in reference to the actual analogy itself.

In other words, we have to find exactly how pottery is made if we want to fully understand what God is trying to tell us in this most incredible analogy.

Here is the key verse from Scripture that will give us this specific revelation that God is the Potter and we are His clay:

“But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8)

How Actual Pottery Is Made & How It Fits Into God’s Sanctification With Us

I will break down the main steps on how pottery is actually made, along with the appropriate explanations as to how all of this perfectly fits into God’s actual sanctification with us under the specific captions below.

1. God Needs the Word in Us Before He Can Start the Sanctification Process
The first thing Pat will show you is the lump of clay that he will actually use to make the piece of pottery he is looking to make.

Before Pat can put this piece of clay on an electric wheel to start the actual molding process to make the kind of pottery he wants to make, he first has to add enough WATER into it in order to make it pliable and soft enough for him to be able to actually use it.

If he does not add enough water into the clay, the clay will remain too hard and rigid for him to be able to actually use.

When the water is added into the clay, it makes the clay soft and pliable. If the clay is not soft and pliable enough, the potter cannot begin to use it to make the pottery he wants to make.

The analogy for us to pick up on this first step is that the water used in this process represents the Word of God.

Here is a good verse giving us the actual revelation that the word “water” in the Bible is symbolic of the Word of God. In other words, the Word of God is like water to our souls.

Just like our physical bodies need water in order to be able to live and survive in this world, in the same way our souls need God’s Word flowing through us in order to feed us on the inside in our inner man.

” … that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:26)

What this is telling us is that God cannot even begin to mold and transform us in this life unless we are first willing do our part.

And our part has to be to get into His Word and try to read, understand, and assimilate what is in the Bible as best we can, with the Holy Spirit also helping us to understand what we are actually reading.

The Bible says that we are to grow in the knowledge of God, and one of the main ways that you will grow in the knowledge of God is to read from the one Book that will give you this direct knowledge – the Bible!
There is no other way into the knowledge of God other than through the Bible.

If you do not spend enough reasonable time in this life trying to read from the Bible and assimilate the actual knowledge that is in this Book as best you can, then God will have very little to work with in your own personal growth with Him, and you will see very little, if any actual spiritual growth in Him in this life.

The reason why so many of God’s saints are not spiritually growing in this life and being properly sanctified in the Holy Spirit is because they are not spending enough time trying to read and understand the Bible as best they can, and then see how the actual knowledge in this Book can be implemented into their daily lives.

The Holy Spirit needs something to work with in order to get this growth process kicked into full gear – and that something is knowledge – and that knowledge can only be gained by reading the Bible. There is no other way!

Just as the potter cannot use the clay unless there is enough water added into it – in the same way God cannot start the sanctification process in our lives unless we first start to get enough of the Word in us.

The Word cannot start to effectively work in you and your life unless you first start to attempt to get it into you in the first place.

So without question, the very first step you have to take, if you really want God to mold and shape you into the kind of person He really wants you to become in Him in this life, is to spend enough reasonable time in the Word – trying to understand, with the help of the Holy Spirit, all of the knowledge that is contained in it, and exactly how all of this knowledge can be incorporated into your personal life and walk with the Lord.

2. You Have to Be Properly “Centered” in Jesus Christ
After Pat adds enough water into the clay to make it soft and pliable so he can now start to work with it – the next thing he will do is put the piece of clay in the center of an electric wheel.

This wheel will then start to spin so he can then use his hands to start the molding and shaping process with the clay as it is actually spinning on the wheel.

However, if the piece of clay is not properly centered in the middle of the wheel, then he will not be able to work with it, and he will not be able to make the pottery he wants to make.

Pat said having the lump of clay perfectly centered in the middle of the electric wheel is the first step in being able to actually make a piece of pottery.

If he tries to make a piece of pottery with a lump of clay that is not properly centered in the middle of the wheel, it will eventually tear apart before he can finish the process.

In the same way that the clay has to be properly centered in the middle of the wheel before the potter can even begin to mold and shape it – we have to be properly centered in Jesus Christ before God can start to mold and shape us.

So what does it mean to be properly centered in Jesus?

I believe what it means to be properly centered in Jesus is that you have to be under a complete and full surrender of you and your entire life with Him where He is now in full control of your entire life.

Jesus has to become both Lord and Savior in your life, not just your Savior. Too many Christians do not have Jesus as the real Lord in their lives.

Again, this is all fully explained to you in our article titled, “The Full Surrender” in the Bible Basics section of our site.

In this article we give you all of the main verses from Scripture to show you exactly what this full surrender is all about, along with a good full surrender prayer that will actually get you into this realm with the Lord.

Bottom line – you have to enter into God’s perfect will for your life before He will start to guide both you and your life in the direction that He will want to take it in.
God will not fully guide you to your divine destiny in Him, and fully sanctify you to the degree that He would really like in this life unless you first come into this full surrender with Him.

It’s your all for His all.

Just like the potter cannot mold the piece of clay into the piece of pottery that he is trying to make unless it is perfectly centered in the middle of the wheel – in the same way the Lord cannot begin to properly work with us in this life unless we are perfectly centered in Him in this full surrender…

[Article link: https://www.bible-knowledge.com/potter-and-the-clay/%5D

———

In other words, God’s promise is to grant the desires of our heart ONLY to those who are centered in Christ and are soft and pliable in the hands of the Master Potter, who is God; and this can only happen as we immerse ourselves, like the Potter’s clay, in the water of the Word and Spirit.

(NOTE: in the Bible, WATER is used as a symbol for both God’s Word and the Holy Spirit, hence to immerse ourselves in water means to immerse ourselves in both]

Come join the Adventure!

Skip 🕊️