The Potter and The Clay

I was listening to Pastor David Jeremiah today as he quoted scripture:

Jeremiah 18:
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make [it].
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay [is] in the potter's hand, so [are] ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. e

It got me thinking of how God deals with us in a whole new light. It made the concept of "FREE WILL" come alive to me, from God's perspective.

You see, God is the potter. WE are the clay.

When the potter molds the clay, and it doesn't turn out the way he wanted it to, he re-molds it until it becomes something else that pleases him.

That's how it is with us. God creates us. Maybe He has a plan for us, but we are rebellious and unfaithful. We are "marred in the hand of the potter". When we repent and turn back to Him, He remolds us into something else. He gives us a purpose that is suitable to Him based on our own experiences. ("so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter")

We are born with a purpose, but the purpose we are intended to have may not be the purpose we end up living out. Regardless, God has a use for us, and He continues to mold us into something useful for Himself, based on our own free will, as long as we let Him.

Should we mar ourselves in the hand of the potter and not turn back to him, He will set us down until such a time as we do. He lets us harden in our iniquity, and if we do not let Him make something useful out of us (the clay), He will eventually destroy us, once He has all He needs for His use. (Judgment Day).