Pottery & Fish
Jeremiah watches the potter creating. As the potter eyes his creation he might suddenly push it all down into a lump and start again. What happened?
To the potter’s trained eye, something was not right. So, he begins again. Jeremiah looks within his heart. He hears God telling Him what to do and say.
God does not dictate word for word what Jeremiah is to say, but plants the seeds of ideas in Jeremiah’s heart. Jeremiah must now use his knowledge and words to convey the message to people. Sometimes think divine inspiration is a little bird sitting on the writer’s shoulder telling him what to write. That is not what happens. Rather God uses His people in developing what to write and how to write through their words and their experiences.
The sorting of fish reminds me of another time and place. When my daughters were growing up, we would head to Leach Lake every summer. They were not very patient sitting in the boat waiting for the ‘big ones to come’. But off the dock they noticed all the little schools of perch. And they would have so much fun catching all these little fish.
Until they brought me all those little fish thinking I was going to clean them. I said no, you caught them you clean them. But it is hard to clean a two-inch-long fish. Then the idea came to them that they needed a size limit. Through some inspiration, not necessarily divine, they decided that when they caught a fish it had to be longer than the oldest daughter’s hand. Now it became exciting to catch the biggest fish.
The moral of story, we always continue to learn. Even with church doctrine. God opens our hearts and minds to new insights all the time. And He expects us to work with Him, using our skills, talents, and minds. What will you learn today?
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen