How Far Does It Go?

Daily Reading: Isaiah 64

Scripture Focus: But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64.8)

Devotional Thought: In 2019, Pete Buttigieg stated, "If you got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me -- your quarrel, sir, is with my creator."  Is he right?  Can that logic be used as an excuse for any proclivity?  Including racism?  Any behavior?  Including police brutality?  How far does it go?  

When Isaiah wrote, "you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand," did he confirm this sentiment?  We are simply who we are because God made us that way? 

Consider Isaiah's words:

·       God is our Father, and we are the clay.  God, like all parents, molds his children as they grow.  God gives us assets and abilities, contexts and conscience, opportunities and obstacles.  These all work in the formation of who we are.  From the beginning - indeed from our mother's womb - he knits us together in ways that are pleasing to him.  But, as every parent knows, children make up their own minds!

·       God is our Potter, and we are the work of his hand.  Does every work of God turn out perfect?  Does God "make mistakes"?  Another prophet helps us: "The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand..." (Jeremiah 18.4).  The word "spoiled" means to become corrupt and carries with it a sense of personal responsibility.  In other words, the clay of our hearts is not lifeless and "unchoosing" like the clay on a potter's wheel, but it can become corrupt through our own choices.

So back to Mr. Buttigieg's statement.  Is our quarrel with God?  It is my experience that often those who quarrel with God do so because they don't want to live up to his demands.

Prayer: Lord, when I refuse to take personal responsibility for myself, please forgive me and show me the way you want me to go.  Grant me, Father, the power to live according to your purpose and plan for my life.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 94.16-23

16 Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?

17 If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.

18 When I thought, "My foot slips," your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.

19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?

21 They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

22 But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.

23 He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out.