It is good to think of God as one who is Faithful, Just, and Unchanging. The Scripture proclaims that “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19).

 

While this may be true, God has clearly spelt out that his blessings and promises are available to only those who steadfastly keep his commands. Those who live a sinful life, or a double life, - of a partly spiritual and a partly sinful life - cannot expect to inherit the promises of God. 

 

The Message at the Potter’s House

 

God once directed Jeremiah, a prophet, to visit a potter’s house. He said he would give him a message there. Jeremiah found the potter working at the wheel. “But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” (Jeremiah 18:4).

 

When the potter took the clay in his hands, he had a plan on how to make the pot. But midway he changed his mind. The clay could not talk back to him. It had no say in how it should be moulded and what kind of a pot it should be made into.

 

God told Jeremiah: “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” He also said, “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.

 

And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” (Jeremiah 18: 7-10).

 

Note the words in bold and italics. God told Jeremiah he would reconsider the good he intended to do for a nation or kingdom if it did evil in his sight. This applies to an individual as well. When we disobey God’s words, we stand to lose his blessings.

 

The Law of Sowing and Reaping

 

It is a simple law of nature. You reap what you sow. If you sow paddy, you reap paddy. If you sow wheat, you reap wheat. You don’t sow paddy and expect to reap wheat. The same law applies even in our spiritual life.

 

The Scripture says: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6: 7,8).

 

For instance, if you go after dishonest gains and want to become rich quickly, you are trying to please your sinful nature. It would lead to your destruction. On the other hand, if you live a holy life, fleeing from all the sins of this world, determined only to please God, not worrying about the losses or insults you may face in the process, you will reap eternal life. For shunning the small pleasures of this world, God will reward you with his glorious riches in Heaven.

 

Remember, the Potter is Smart 

 

Many often forget that God can see through a man’s heart. There is nothing you can hide from God. Jesus said, the things that come out of a man’s heart are what make him ‘unclean.’ He said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander… These are what make a man ‘unclean.” (Matthew 15:19, 20).

 

It would be smarter for each of us to be straight with God. Pretensions can be dangerous. You can’t fool around with God and hope to get away with it. The Scripture says of God: “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.” (Psalm 18:25,26).

 

It would be wise to remember that the Potter is Smart!