Have you ever made something? My front porch has a little bench on it that I made with my own two hands. It was so fantastically constructed that one day we walked outside and there it lay in pieces. I’m not sure what caused the destruction but I think it was just poor craftsmanship. I reconstructed it and there it sits on our front porch. Careful if you come over and try to sit on it. It’s more of a spectator piece.
There is a certain pride that comes from making something. You feel accomplished when you looked at what you have created. And that’s just for the amateur builder. If you ever come across a structure made by a master craftsman there is more than a sense of pride for the builder, there is also a sense of awe for anyone who looks on that which is made.
Which brings us to me and you. Isaiah says this about the creation, me and you, and the creator, God.
“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ Isaiah 45:9
Put in those terms it would seem rather silly if that ceramic ashtray you made in 5th grade piped up and said, “I don’t look anything like what I’m supposed to look like.” To take it a step further could you imagine if the Mona Lisa suddenly took a breath and sighed, “I wish I were a blonde.”
This same ridiculousness is proposed in the statements about us from Isaiah. Who are we to say to the one who made us, “stop, you’re doing it wrong!”? It would seem strange at best to declare that we know better who we are and how we are to be made than the one who is making us.
For this reason, I would like invite you to get to know your creator. He made you with purpose and intent. He knows who you are and why you exist. One of the phrases we say at church every week is “I am made on purpose because I have a purpose.” The only way you can fully understand that purpose is by getting to know the one who gave it to you.
If you don’t know where to start I’d like to suggest the book of John. Just take a moment and read the first chapter. And if you want to know more, keep reading! Also, I’d like to invite you to begin a conversation with the one who created you. That can start something like this, “God I want to be who you created me to be.”
Get to know the Lord and you’ll get to know yourself. By the way, you’re the best clay pot I’ve seen today.
Matt Britt is a student and teacher of the word of God and the lead pastor of New Life Church.