Bible
Study: Jeremiah 18, 1 to 6 and Matthew 13, 47 to 53.
Today, God tells Jeremiah to go to
the potter’s house and watch the potter at his job. Then the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this
potter has done? Behold, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my
hand.” For God to define us as clay is quite humbling yet it is so true.
The colour of clay is brown. Brown is
definitely not a beautiful colour so it tells me how down to earth I should be.
I should not raise myself too high because my true colour is the colour of the
ground. As clay is decorated and painted with different colours, my titles, my
degrees, my experience, my house, my family, my accomplishments and all these
things I take pride in are mere decorations. I should not mistake them for who I
am. The real me is what lies behind these decorations and my real colour is
brown.
Clay is usually soft while it is
being moulded but once it dries and hardens, it can no longer be shaped. It only
breaks. The best part of the life of any piece of clay is when it is in the
hands of the potter, when the potter handles it with care and delicacy. As long
as the clay remains soft, it can be shaped into anything that comes to the mind
of the potter. If I really want God to use me, if I want his will to be done in
my life, then I must remain soft. I must not allow life’s challenges harden me
or harden my heart from learning, from loving or from change.
As clay, I must be open at all times
to change for good or become moulded into something else whenever God, the
potter so pleases. My best days are ahead. I am yet to accomplish my full
potentials. I must not reach any conclusions about myself or my destiny since I
am still in the hands of the potter. The day I die is the day I will leave the
potter’s hands, then and then only will you know what God did with me. The day I
die is the day I will know what shape I took; whether as a clay pot, a flower
vase or just a work of art.
No matter how long clay may last, it
must surely return to its origin; back to the ground from which it was gotten. No
matter what I achieve in life, I must one day return to where I came from. I must
return to God. And as Jesus points out in the Gospel passage, I will be sorted
out like fishermen sort out fish and based on my value, I would either be
accepted in God’s presence or be thrown out.
The way I live my life right now
determines my value and each time I perform an act of righteousness or refrain
from committing a sin, I add to that value. Like a fish I grow bigger when I eat
the right food; the word of God and allow it to digest in my body by putting
the word of God into practice. I also add value to myself by the acts of
kindness and mercy I show to others.
Again from the parable of Jesus, I see
that on the last day, when the fisherman will harvest the fishes, they will not
be of equal sizes, some will be big and others would be very small. When I look
at the church today, I see that we are not all of the same size as far as faith
and morals are concerned. This is the reason why the church is not composed of
both saints and sinners; the saints being the big fishes and the sinners being
the small ones. There is no such thing as a perfect church where everyone is a
saint. So long as we are humans, there will always be big fishes and small
ones.
Therefore, I should not be surprised when
people do not live up to expectations or do the right things. In fact, it my
duty to encourage the small ones to grow rather than trample on them or make
them feel insignificant, unwanted and unnecessary.
Let us Pray:
Lord God, help me to remain
soft and humble in your hands as I prepare for harvest time. Amen.
Good
morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless
you.
Fr. Abu.
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