Jeremiah 18:6b You are like the clay in the potter’s hands, and I am the potter.
The soul of the original creation of God was like a soft clay. The soul is like a shapeable, flexible, stretchable clay which is housed in a body. Our soul is the clay and God our Father is the potter. He was making a pot from clay. But there was something wrong with the pot. So the potter used that clay to make another pot. With His hands He shaped the pot the way He wanted it to be (Jeremiah 18:4). The pliability of the clay is an allegorical representation of a correctable, rectifiable and teachable soul.
If the clay rejects the kneading, shaping and polishing of the Potter, it would become worthless. The older we get the harder and more callous the clay-man inside us becomes. Hence the Word of God says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Discipline must start early. Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression – Dr. Hiam Ginnot. A spoilt toddler will turn into a rebellious teenager and a stubborn adult.
The soul of a man can be hardened by prolonged illness, childhood traumas, recurring rumpus or unanswered prayers, lurching doubt, frustration and disappointment. A hardened clay can be salvaged by soaking it in water. Similarly, a hardened, obstinate, callous soul can be saved by soaking and steeping it in the Word of God. When we struggle to understand God’s ways we must marinate ourselves in God’s word. The water of God’s Word will soften the apathetic, anxious and apprehensive soul.
Three qualities of a yielding soul:
- Plasticity: Plasticity and the ability to be shaped is the foremost characteristic of a clay. Rigidity is one of the toughest challenges in the past two or three decades. There is an “information overload” via the internet and social media that has left a generation of people who have become inflexible, opinionated and unbendable. Information pollution dries up plasticity. It is not how much we know but how much we practice that keeps us flexible. Plasticity keeps our soul resilient, changeable and correctable.
- Porosity: Porosity keeps the clay moist, soft and spongy. A ball of clay is full of tiny holes. The pores make a passage through the clay to absorb and retain dampness. Unforgiveness, arrogance and egotism dehydrates the soul. Pride shuts the pores with fat and suffocates breathing. Those who think they “know it all” have pride clogging and blocking their porosity. Pride suffocates the soul and chokes porosity.
- Pliability: Clay has the ability to vitrify/transform. A clay can be formed, shaped, fashioned and polished. A soul that is teachable is a man who is transformable. Humility keeps us pliable. Absorb prudent counsel and mull over good advice. Wise advice to a listening ear is like gold earrings or fine jewellery (Proverbs 25:12). Insightful questions will bring wisdom but arrogant arguments will only harden the soul. Humility makes a soul pliable and useful.
Our soul is like clay. Flexibility, teachability and humility keep us soft, shapeable and teachable in the hands of the Potter.
We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand (Isaiah 64:8).
Prayer: Pappa God, You are my Potter. I surrender my opinions, arrogance and rigidness. Make me pliable and shape me into the honourable vessel to bring glory to your name. Amen.
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