Certain types of clay have unique properties. Wet, they are malleable. We can change their shapes; form them into whatever we want them to be. Leave them alone, and they will become rigid, slowly drying until they are fixed in form. Yet, douse them in water, and they become malleable again.
It’s only when we stick them in the flames that they become waterproof. Then we can use them in all sorts of situations, and what we put in them will not change the shape of the clay.
As Christians we are same. God can change us, and we become like him. Yet, let the world touch us, and we change shape to become like the world. It’s when he puts us though the flames that we become worldproof. It’s then that the world can do its worst to us, and we will come away, still in the shape of the Father.
John 1:1-5 starts with a passage that illustrates this exactly:
“In the beginning was the Word… In him was life…and the darkness has not overcome it.”
When Jesus gives us life, the darkness will slough off, and we will be unchanged.
Ephesians 2:8 points to God’s hand in the process:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…”
We cannot “fire” ourselves for God. His hand must place us in the flames.
Genesis 1:26 tells us our final form:
“Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...”
God wants us to be just like him, not like the evil one cast from heaven because of his rebellious nature.
1 John 5:3 is how we know his work in us is complete:
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments…”
A potter has to test his pots. If they come out of the flames weak or broken, he has to start over. Only his best is sent into the world to do the work for which it was designed.
When we feel the problems of life are unrelenting, that’s just God, making us permanently like him.
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