In the Potter’s Hands
There is a song I remember from way back that goes:
‘Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.’
[‘Spirit of the Living God’ by Daniel Iverson & Michael Baughen]
A more recent (but still old) song says something quite similar:
‘Take me and mold me, use me, fill me
I give my life to the Potter’s hand
Call me, You guide me, lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter’s hand.’
[‘The Potter’s Hand’ by Hillsong]
The foundation for these two songs is the understanding that we belong to God and not to ourselves. This holds true on two levels:
1. God is the Creator of the universe. Earth is just a part of that universe and we human beings are just one of the creatures He made to occupy the Earth howbeit the most valued creatures made originally in His image. So as His creation, we belong to Him, our Creator.
2. As a result of the fall of man and our consequently being born in sin and as citizens of the kingdom of darkness, God redeemed us by the death and resurrection of Jesus and created the way we could change citizenship to become citizens of the kingdom of His dear Son – the kingdom of Light. Those who believe and accept this gift have been purchased by the precious blood of Jesus and are therefore the property of Jesus.
Those who fall into the second category with new citizenship now have a regenerated spirit that has the nature of God – in God’s image and likeness. However, our souls (intellect, will and emotions) and our physical bodies are the same despite containing a born again spirit. The good news is that with our new spirits, we have the raw material to truly become the image and likeness of God on the outside, too. It is a lifelong journey of proactively renewing our minds with the Word of God and acting out of the changing mindset. God earnestly desires our maturity in Christ-likeness and He constantly prunes us like a farmer prunes his crops for a better harvest of fruit.
The songs above capture the heart of a worshipper who is surrendered to God’s maturing process and I’d like to touch on the steps a bit.
Take me: The choice is ours to surrender to God’s will or to stubbornly pursue ours to our own detriment. God has made it such that we have a free will and He desires that we choose Him. When we surrender to His lordship/rule, when He truly becomes ‘Adonai’ to us (master, boss, ruler), He will make us what He wants us to be.
Break/Melt me: Pieces of clay have to be broken down while metals have to be melted to be malleable and moldable. God will break us down so that ‘self’ decreases and Christ increases in us. He will not share His glory with any man.
Mold me: God will use life’s experiences to mold us. These experiences give us the opportunity to let His Word become real to us; to let us put into practice what the Bible teaches us about living as Christians – as light and salt. Ultimately, what He is molding us into is the image of Jesus.
“My little children, again I feel the pain of childbirth for you until you truly become like Christ.” (Gal.4:19, NCV)
“We must become like a mature person, growing until we become like Christ and have his perfection.” (Eph.4:13b, NCV)
Fill me: The cry of our hearts ought to be for a continual filling of the Holy Spirit and not for an abundance of material possessions which, although not bad in themselves, have a tendency to distract from the things that truly matter – the things of eternal value. “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways” (Pr.14:14) so every once in a while, it would be advisable to do a ‘heart check’ to see what our hearts are filled with. Is everything about us or about God? There must be a reason Jesus said that we are to seek God and His rule first. That must be our primary preoccupation. We are to be filled with (the fullness of) God (Eph.3:19); with the Holy Spirit (Eph.5:18); with the fruits of righteousness (Phil.1:11).
Use me: When we are filled to overflowing, lives around us and the society in general get to experience God (His love, purity and power) through us. If we are empty, we have nothing to offer anybody else. At best, we will be clanging cymbals making a lot of noise but very little eternal impact. The bible refers to us as ‘vessels’ and as such, we are meant to be useful, to carry out God’s purposes here on Earth but without all these steps outlined above, we will not be fit for His use.
The place of worship is the place of brokenness, where God can break, mold and fill us so that wherever we go, we can spread the fragrance of Christ, add savour as salt and illuminate the darkness as light. As the songwriter says,
‘There is no higher calling, no greater honour than to bow and kneel before Your throne;
I’m amazed at Your glory, embraced by Your mercy
Oh Lord, I LIVE TO WORSHIP YOU!’
[‘No Higher Calling’ by Lenny LeBlanc]