Jeremiah…Chapter 19.
God asked Jeremiah to go buy a pot and shatter it to the point beyond repair. In Chapter 18, Jeremiah talks about starting as a lump of clay and now God is saying they are clay pots…shattered. The shattered pot is symbolic of their hearts. They were so hardened, they needed to be broken.
Broken pots are useless, just like a hard heart. I don’t know about you, but I have been that clay pot. I have been angry and bitter. I have let that anger and bitterness affect my walk with God…even while in the ministry as a pastor’s wife (just saying it can happen to anyone). I know Jerusalem was in a state that was beyond repair…from worshiping idols to sacrificing children…it was appalling. The thing is, all of this started with a hardened heart. When your heart is callused and hardened for whatever reason, you are blinded to the plans He has for you. Your only hope is to be broken, so that you can see in your own ability you are useless…you need God to put you back together. In that state of brokenness with all the pieces around you, you see just how fragile you are…How easy it is for you to be manipulated, used and the devil to take control of your life. No one is perfect…not one! But, if we are doing something in our lives that does not line up with God’s Word, we are setting ourselves up for a shattered heart.
However, just cause you have been shattered, doesn’t mean you can’t pick up the pieces.
I got this nativity figure several years ago, but Joseph’s head is hanging on by super glue and a prayer. One of my kids broke it by accident when they were younger, but just because it was broken doesn’t mean it was worthless and not worthy of use with all my other millions of Christmas decorations. It’s repaired, but it’s fragile. Because of that fragility, every year I make sure to carefully place it where when I open it up next Christmas i won’t find his severed head rolling around in the bottom of my plastic tote with leftover red berries and ornament hooks. Why? Because I know how fragile it is and I want to protect it as much as possible.
See…I had to put Joseph’s broken head back with Jesus.
That’s the same with our heart.
We have to give our broken pieces to Him.
When He puts us back together, we should want nothing more than to protect, guard and treasure our hearts because the Holy One lives within us.
And Joseph…he’s put back together, but he isn’t the same…my nativity scene, yeah. But I am sure when Joseph looked down and seen the King of Kings in Mary’s arm, he was changed.
That’s you and me.
We are living proof that you can be put back together…but you are different.
A new creation.
