Few days back I was watching my children play with the play-doh. The soft play dough opened fresh from the pack, formed into perfect clay balls and clay creatures the tiny hands and minds desired them to be. Each squeeze and bend made a nice and firm impression on the colorful clay. If a lump of clay is left out by mistake, in the next few days you could find it hard and brittle, losing its character- the ability to be moldable. The cause of this phenomenon is the clay losing its moisture. But if we add the moisture back to it, that clay regains its character and purpose. As I watched this, my mind related it to the heart of a child of God. Being away from the presence of God and exposure to sin creates brittleness in our life. When our heart forms brittle lumps, it does not bend and mold in the fashion, God wants it to be. A hardened heart loses its purpose to hold the joy and peace that comes from obedience to the word of God.
The word of God compares us to the clay, wherein God is the potter. “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand”, Isaiah 64:8. If we are stubborn to the changes God wants in our life; will that make us pliable in His hands? I believe the answer is no. The moisture provided to us through the Holy spirit can be absorbed only when we subject ourselves in willful obedience. If not we are then hardened, brittle and unusable clay, losing our value, time and purpose to become the vessels God intends us to be.
In Psalms 51: 10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”, we see David praying for a clean heart and a supple spirit. A spirit that is moved according to the will of the Father is something God desires from His children. A hardened heart just like a hardened piece of play-doh, loses its purpose. Today I humbly request you to examine areas in your life where, you have been telling excuses to obey or willfully surrender to God’s will. Just like a hardened clay needs water to retain its suppleness, the human heart needs the word of God and Holy spirit to retain a healthy pliable spirit. The pliability to be molded comes from a willful obedience drawn when the word of God creates correction in it.
The word of God warns us against a heart of unbelief which in itself is a sin. Unbelief resulting from a hardened heart takes us to wander away from the promises and purpose God has for us. Hebrews 3: 12,13 “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness”. Hebrews 3: 7-8, “So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion”. In these verses we see the word ‘Today’ is emphasized, which encourages us to take an action today or immediately, when the Holy Spirit reminds us of the corrections in our life. God does not want us to be the brittle, character less clay but supple, moist and moldable.
If you are waiting in your life for God to reveal His purpose on you , then I encourage you to be in presence and ask God to show the brittle and hardened areas, which need to be tamed and moistened through the obedience to the word of God. God wants you to grow into his purpose. Let the Holy Spirit guide you in this.
Colossians 3:12-14 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”.
May God bless you.
Smitha Thomas,
Redeemed Ministries.
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