If you are an art connoisseur, then you would be able to recognize who created particular art pieces just by their design. It is common for someone who knows specific art eras to look at a painting and say, “Yes, that’s a Rembrandt,” or “That is definitely a Picasso.” Brush strokes, painting techniques, paint type, and style of the art, will point to the creator of the piece. This is true in all forms of art, not just painting.
There is a Scottish lady by the name of Jennifer Lee who is world renown for her handmade pottery. She uses a method called pinch and coiling. She also uses special metallic oxides in the clay to give it color. Crazily enough, this artist has pieces up for auction that have sold for $40,000-60,000. I’m not an artist, BUT I do know from personal experience from art class in elementary school that when I brought home my pottery bowl, I worked so hard on, I expected my mom or dad to actually use it. I think my mom still has my pink lopsided coiled bowl setting on her bookshelf doing its job of holding trinkets and junk. I guarantee that if I was paying thousands of dollars for a piece of handmade art, I would not allow it to sit on a shelf and gather dust. It would be on display, cleaned regularly, and protected. However, regardless of what the artist designed it for, I probably would hesitate to use it for its original purpose. I’m not eating cereal from a $30,000 bowl. But the artist did design it to be used. The fact that people pay so much for it to be useless, is on them. It was designed for a purpose, designed to be of use.
“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Isaiah 49:16).
Jesus did not allow us to be created, formed, and molded into His image to just be placed on a shelf to be admired. We were created and called for a purpose. We are designed for His glory, designed to point back to Him as our Master Artist. His handiwork is not only world renown, but it is also eternally known. Christ wears our mark on His hands, and we wear Him on our souls. His unique signature tells the world a story. When they see us, we each have a redemption story to share, just as every piece of art supposedly tells a story. That story may be its very creation and how it came from the artist’s mind, to their hands, to reality.
Our stories are very different but regardless of how we came about, we have similarities. For instance, we have the same Creator, the same clay, the same Plan from the Master, the same goal in design. God’s hands mold us as clay into the image He desires for us to be. We are all different, speaking different languages, living in different cultures, even being in different sizes, shapes, colors, etc. But when allowed, we are all shaped by the same Master with the same plan of perfection in His mind. The same hands that shape me, are shaping my brothers and sisters in Eswatini, in Xalapa, in Wisconsin, in Bolivia, in Honduras, and throughout the world.
We are called to be clay in the Potter’s hands. Therefore, we must ask ourselves some important questions:
Am I allowing the Potter to do the molding?
What is my purpose?
What is my calling?
To what end will I serve the Master? Will I be the bowl that is coiled and pinched so that I can safely and completely hold the Truth for others to take? Will I be the vase that displays the Truth as the beauty that it is? Will I be the utensil whose tines are perfectly formed to feed the Truth to the hungry? Or maybe, I will be the cup that carries the healing virtue of the blood of Jesus to the hurting?
Whatever your purpose is, be sure it is beautiful. Your work for the Potter is beautiful—just keep on serving.
