EARTHEN VESSELS

Have you ever felt like you will never amount to anything of worth? Have you ever thought that you’re just an ordinary person with a bad past and a hopeless future?

Perhaps you may think that your life is already broken beyond repair. But the truth is, God does not reject our broken pieces. Instead, He is willing to accept us, pick up our broken parts, and restore us to something beautiful, if only we would allow Him.

This precious truth of God’s willingness and power to change us and restore us is so important for us to grasp that He chose to prove this to us through Jesus’ first ever miracle (John 2:1-11).

THE FIRST MIRACLE OF JESUS

The first miracle of Jesus was at a wedding feast. There came a shortage of wine so Mary brought up the matter with Jesus. The Lord Jesus then instructed the servants to fill six waterpots with water.

Each pot contained 20 to 30 gallons of water which were originally intended to be used by Jews for the washing of their hands before they ate. When the servants served the water from the pots, it became wine! Not only that, the master of the feast even declared that it was the best wine served so far.

In this story, it is interesting that God chose to use merely waterpots of stone to bring about His first miracle. These pots can represent us, humans, as we are described as jars of clay or earthen vessels in the Bible (2 Corinthians 4:7). As we take a closer look at this miracle, we can notice three significant things that happened to these vessels.

REPURPOSED

First, these pots got repurposed. These pots were originally just meant to contain water for cleansing. Then Jesus came and repurposed them. It's the same with us. Before we came to know Jesus, we may have these ordinary or even selfish purposes for which we live. But when God came into the scene, all of a sudden we were repurposed. He’s called us to live for higher purposes far beyond ourselves.

In Jeremiah 18:1-6, Jeremiah was sent by the Lord to a potter’s house. There he saw the potter on the potter’s wheel making a vessel. However, the vessel got marred. Then he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter. God then spoke these words, “Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.”

There are those days when God asks us the same question, “Can I not do with you as this potter?” 

What did the potter do? He made the vessel again as it seemed to good to him. Whenever God brings forth change, it is meant for our good.

He is indeed the Potter and we are the clay in His hand which He is fashioning into something good. May we be like clay, soft and malleable, never resisting the potter. May we be willing to be changed by God, trusting that God’s plan is much better than ours.

UPGRADED

Second, the pots were upgraded. The stoneware was not suitable for containing wine because they are unable to keep the scent of wine. It was really just a lowly container of water. But what made these stone pots special is what they eventually contained - the best wine ever served in the wedding.

In the same way, God is in the business of transforming us into something far better than who we are today. He does it by changing what’s inside, not necessarily what’s outside.

There’s a beautiful poem called “The Touch of the Master’s Hand” that says:

Twas battered and scarred and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.

“What am I bid, good folk?” he cried.
“Who’ll start the bidding for me?
A dollar, a dollar ... now two ... only two ...
Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?

“Three dollars once, three dollars twice,
Going for three” ... but no!
From the room far back a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow.

Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet,
As sweet as an angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”
As he held it up with the bow.

“A thousand dollars ... and who’ll make it two?
Two...two thousand, and who’ll make it three?
Three thousand once and three thousand twice ...
Three thousand and gone!” said he.

The people cheered, but some exclaimed
“We do not quite understand ...
What changed it’s worth?” and the answer came:
“Twas the touch of the master’s hand.”

And many a man with soul out of tune
And battered and scarred by sin
Is auctioned cheap by the thoughtless crowd
Just like the old violin.

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul, and the change that is wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand.

O Master! I am the tuneless one
Lay, lay Thy hand on me,
Transform me now, put a song in my heart
Of melody, Lord, to Thee!
(Welch)

Truly, we are like that old violin. We may look at our past and our present and think we are worth nothing. But suddenly, the Master takes us by His hand and He makes a tune out of who we are. On our own, we may not look anything special but with His touch, we can be something of far greater worth.

God wants to reveal His glory to mankind so that all would know that there is a loving God who wants to save and give life. That is why He would choose to use out-of-tune, imperfect people like you and me. Because when He uses us, people will know that any miracle that can ever happen through us could only be because of the all-powerful God within us.

REFILLED

The third thing that had to happen to the pots was that they had to be refilled with water up to the brim. God wants to empty us of our sins and fill us up instead with His water, which can represent His Word and His life because these have the power to transform us. As we read the Bible more and more, it changes the way we think and eventually, also the way we act.

Out of His great love for us, God wants to repurpose, upgrade, and refill us but the question is: will we allow Him? Just as what the poet said, let us invite the Lord to transform us. May we be able to just say “yes, Lord.”

“O Master! I am the tuneless one,
Lay, lay Thy hand on me,
Transform me now, put a song in my heart
Of melody, Lord, to Thee!”

Sources:

Welch, Myra Brooks. “The Touch of the Master’s Hand.” Ministry127, ministry127.com/resources/illustration/the-touch-of-the-master-s-hand. Accessed 28 May 2017.