Clay in the Potter’s Hand

There are two general types of clay, based on how the substance reacts when mixed with water. Expandable clay swells when water is added to it. Expandable clay can absorb so much water that the clay itself becomes a liquid. Non-expandable clay, however, becomes soft but not liquid when mixed with water.
 
Non-expandable clay is used in making pottery, bricks, and tile. For example, pottery makers mold moist clay into almost any shape and bake it in hot ovens called kilns. Heat removes the water from the clay, which becomes permanently hard and cannot be softened by adding water to it. Jesus Christ is the “living water” who desires to mold us into His image.
 
The Samaritan woman of John 4 drank from the fountain of living water and was transformed from non-expandable clay to expandable clay in the Master’s hand. When He announced that He was the Messiah, she believed and immediately left her water pot to share the Good News with others. Now the expandable clay hurried to tell others about Jesus and became a conduit of salvation for many.
 
If the heat of trials does not absorb the “water of the Word,” we become non-expandable clay and hardened. But as we willingly absorb “the water of the Word,” we can become expandable clay and channels for others to drink of the water of life through Jesus Christ.
 
PRAYER: Forgive me Lord for hardening my heart and becoming unusable. Thank You for Your loving chastening to make me expandable clay for the building of Your Kingdom.
By Sis. Cheryl Torain