Screw It

So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Jeremiah 18:3-4

There is a well-known phrase that addicts use when they give up the fight and relapse. Though they know there will be consequences, they just say, Screw it. I apologize (mom) for the crassness, but instead of screw, they actually use the f-word. I just couldn’t bring myself to include that in today’s title though.

Watching someone in this condition is painful as I know where screw it leads. In my own addiction, I did what I wanted until I found the limits of my freedom. I may think I can do what I want, but eventually, when I push far enough, God painfully corrects me.

I often write about my responsibility in my recovery. I believe that God gives us the freedom to follow or to not follow him. Today’s beautiful passage is a reminder though, that I am not in charge and that there are boundaries to my freedom.

In the passage, God asked Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house where he witnessed the potter reshape a spoiled pot into another vessel. God went on to explain that he is the potter and we are the clay. God shapes, molds and make us. If he desires, he can unmake us. We may think ourselves to be in charge, but in the end, he is the potter.

When we say screw it, and go our own way, we have, in our defiance, become like the spoiled pot. When we use our freedom to pursue destruction, we will find it. God then, must reshape – or even unmake – us. This can be profoundly painful and may even be the end of us.

If we want to know life and if we desire to avoid the pain and misery of screw it, then we must daily abandon our path to follow God’s. He gives us some freedom, which we always must use to pursue him. He is the potter. We are the clay.