Christian Living

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Tao Te Ching, a Chinese text of philosophy says “We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.”

Not one to be perceived as ultra-deep, I’m not sure what the first part of the statement means. Is it speaking about the kind of pot my grandmother used to stuff with marigolds? Referencing how we shape our lives? Implying that we shape our outer selves?

If it’s the third choice, I must adamantly protest. As you know, pots, jars, vases, whatever, come in all shapes and sizes. Were I capable of shaping myself into a pot, I’d be a really tall, super slender container—not one of average height with the tendency to swell in the middle. Plenty of people fall into this “apple pot” category, just as there are people who resemble a clay chiminea on the patio. What about the ones who are short and squat? Some pots are tub-shaped while others are too narrow, devoid of muscles or curves. Trust me, we are not people who chose our pot types.

That’s not saying that we can’t happily accept our outer pots, or strive to enhance them. It’s just saying that we didn’t sit at the potter’s wheel and “throw” ourselves.

Isaiah 64:8 says, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Now, complain as we will about our pots, Isaiah also tells us, “Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing?” (29:16). And Romans 9:20 asks, “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this’”?

God knows exactly why he molded us as He did, and when a pot—any pot— is filled with the right thing, it’s quite lovely and suitable for use.

Of course, before a pot can hold what it’s created for, it must be shaped as God intended. To impress this lesson on the prophet Jeremiah, God sent him to a potter’s house where Jeremiah reported, “I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” (Jeremiah 18: 3-4)

A potter who uses a wheel shapes and builds the walls of his creation from the inside out—so in this chapter’s teaching, God tells us that He can do as the potter does, reshaping our lives, hearts, behavior and attitudes, no matter how big a lump of clay we are.

So, once we’re shaped, what does God want to fill us with?

“Treasure”, according to Paul, which is defined as God’s Light. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4: 6-9)

Equipped for good and filled to the brim with light and hope—that’s what we chose to be filled with when we’re willing to be clay that God can use for noble purposes. We’ve also got the option of filling ourselves with ignoble purposes. (2 Timothy 2: 20-22)

You know, I’ve got a couple of clay creations that were gifts from my children. One is a coil pot resembling a circular, lop-sided stack of earthworms, painted in a color scheme I’ll call “unique.” The other is a sculpture of something not identifiable, but intriguing. Though others may not understand this art, I see the genius in my children’s craftsmanship; however, it’s not the outside that captures my breath. What moves me is the love that fills that unique pot and that intriguing sculpture, both intended to bring me joy.

Does God see love when He looks inside our pots? Are they filled with the desire to please Him? If the inside has gotten a little lumpy, are we willing to let Him smooth things out and finish the good work in us that He started? (Philippians 1:6)

We all, at times, need to ask God to throw us. And—while it is the inner shaping that matters—I must confess that I sometimes wish He’d reach down and re-mold the outer.

A few inches sculpted off the waistline would be nice.


©Donna G. Morton, January 2007

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