I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 16-18.

    I am not sure where I am going with this today. My thoughts are all a jumble. There are several places where I thought of starting to write, but there was no transition from there to the next thought. Then I came to Jeremiah warning us against trusting in people. It struck me that in this election season this summed up what has gone wrong: too many people put their trust in this or that politician. As a nation, we vote for someone and expect them to fix what is wrong. It does not work that way. Jeremiah tells us that trusting in humans, whether that is a politician, a preacher, a spouse, or ourselves will result in a stunted life with no real future. No, if we want things to change, if we want things to get better we need to trust in God. When God heals us we are truly healed, when He saves us we are truly saved.

    God is like a potter, molding us to His purpose. There are multiple layers to that metaphor in this passage. The first is that God will mold us to whatever purpose He desires. However, as the potter, God is free to change His mind about what type of vessel He is shaping us into. If He has decided to make us into a vessel intended to be used and destroyed because of our wickedness and we renounce our evil ways and begin to do good, He will freely change His mind and instead form us into a vessel of beauty to be admired and displayed. On the other hand if He had decided to make us into a vessel designed to be admired and displayed and we turn from doing good to doing evil, He will change His mind and shape us into a vessel to be used and destroyed. This is true of us as individuals and as nations (and every type of group in between).