Beginning Again Series

JEREMIAH 18:1-6

BEGINNING AGAIN

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, (2) “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” (3) Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. (4) But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. (5) Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, (6) “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel."

Many of us here today and many people you know need a new beginning. God is the God of second chances and God is the God of new beginnings.

Have you ever wished you could go back and start over? Maybe because of an unpleasant situation of your own making. IF only you could take the words back that you said, if only you could make different choices. Sadly, in most cases, it is impossible to go back and change what has been said or done. There is however one area of your life that you can have a new beginning: Your spiritual life can have a FRESH NEW START!

What do you need today? SALVATION? SANCTIFICATION? COMMITMENT?

CONTENTMENT? God Specializes in New Beginnings.

God used a unique manner to teach Jeremiah a valuable lesson. Jeremiah is a true prophet with the people’s best interests at heart. At this time he is very discouraged and about to give up on God’s people. He seemed to think God had done all He could and now there was no hope. God told him to go down to the pottery for an object lesson. There he saw a potter at the wheel intently shaping a vessel. The potter’s foot was on the treadle moving the wheel around and around as the potter shaped the vessel. But just as the vessel seemed to be taking shape and becoming lovely, something unexpected happened: the vessel was marred. We are not sure just why, but it was marred.

Jeremiah probably thought the potter would reject the crumpled clay as if the material was now of no value. Instead he flatten it again, put it back on the wheel and caused it to take shape once more. He might have cast it aside with the waste. In utter disgust he might have abandoned it completely. But he did not and was only satisfied when he had put his best into it and brought out of the clay its highest possibilities.

It is this shaping and bringing out your highest spiritual possibilities that the Divine Potter wants to do for you. He has a plan and purpose for each one of us. His plan is personal and His plan is definite. He alone knows our possibilities and He desires the best for each of us. If you are disappointed, if you are discouraged because your life has not shaped up to the Divine will, because you have not yielded to the pressure of His hand, or because your life is not what He wanted and wants it to be, then know that God has a message of hope and assurance for you. God is working on us – we are His workmanship. He wants to shape us according to His divine design and plan.

God here says to His people, "As the clay is in the potter’s hand so are you in my hand." When our plans, hopes, dreams or life doesn’t turnout like we desire, when we realize we are flawed, God can remake us! When we fall apart at the seams God can put us back together again!

“Many wish that there were some wonderful place, called the Land of Beginning Again, where all our mistakes and all our heartaches and all our poor selfish griefs could be dropped, like a shabby old coat-- never put on again.” Many are the hearts that have wished for such a place and never found it, although the Bible points the way. You can begin again by entrusting your life into the Master’s hands (CIM). You can begin again by allowing God to shape your life by His skilled, purposeful, and loving hands.

First, THIS PLACE OF BEGINNING AGAIN IS ON THIS EARTH

Many people seem to expect a second chance after death. They contend this is one of the marks of God’s goodness. They believe man will have opportunity to believe on Christ after rejecting Him here. Not one word in all the Bible justifies such a thought. Instead, there is every warning against delay and presumption. We are slow to learn that God does not proceed according to our reasoning. Even if He did, this sort of argument is unreasonable. Why did Christ come to earth live a perfect life and die for us here and now if there is to be a chance after death?