Potter's Vessel
"A potters vessel that cannot be made whole again "Jeremiah 19:11.
These words were spoken first of the inevitable judgements which were to befal Jerusalem . She who had been a chosen vessel was now to be broken beyond repair . An earthen vessel is a true emblem of human life , so frail , so brittle . But there is something frailer yet in our resolutions and efforts after holiness . And when once these have failed us , we can never be again what we were . Always the crack , the rivets , the mark of the join . In Gideon's day there was a light within the earthen vessels; and when these were broken it shone forth . There is ,therefore , a breaking of the vessel which is salutary and desirable . And it is of this that Miss Taylor sings :-O to be nothing , nothing !
Only to lie at his feet ,
A broken and empty vessel .
For the Masters use made meet .
If ther be in any one of us a proud and evil disposition , a masterful self will , which frets for its own way and makes itself strong against God , then indeed we may ask to be so broken as never to be whole again . "Take me - break me - make me ," is a very wholesome prayer for us all.
The apostle speaks of the heavenly treasure in the earthen vessel . How wonderful it is that God should put so much of his spiritual ointment into such common and ordinary receptacles ! No one detects what is in the saints till they are broken by sickness , pain , trouble ; then the house is filled with the odour of the ointment .
These words were spoken first of the inevitable judgements which were to befal Jerusalem . She who had been a chosen vessel was now to be broken beyond repair . An earthen vessel is a true emblem of human life , so frail , so brittle . But there is something frailer yet in our resolutions and efforts after holiness . And when once these have failed us , we can never be again what we were . Always the crack , the rivets , the mark of the join . In Gideon's day there was a light within the earthen vessels; and when these were broken it shone forth . There is ,therefore , a breaking of the vessel which is salutary and desirable . And it is of this that Miss Taylor sings :-O to be nothing , nothing !
Only to lie at his feet ,
A broken and empty vessel .
For the Masters use made meet .
If ther be in any one of us a proud and evil disposition , a masterful self will , which frets for its own way and makes itself strong against God , then indeed we may ask to be so broken as never to be whole again . "Take me - break me - make me ," is a very wholesome prayer for us all.
The apostle speaks of the heavenly treasure in the earthen vessel . How wonderful it is that God should put so much of his spiritual ointment into such common and ordinary receptacles ! No one detects what is in the saints till they are broken by sickness , pain , trouble ; then the house is filled with the odour of the ointment .
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