For the months of May through July, we’re exploring God’s handiwork in our lives. We are meditating these few weeks on God as our Potter and us as His handiwork. Today’s fourth devotion follows up on last week’s focus on God’s shaping and offers us a soothing balm for when we face trials that transform our character:

IN WORD - The Potter is focused on outcomes. While He is spinning the wheel, softening the clay, cutting the design, and firing the kiln, He is preoccupied with one thing: what the piece will look like in the end. He may enjoy the process with some lumps of clay and find others tedious, but the process is insignificant in light of the value of the final image.
The beauty of the art is in His mind the whole time. In verses 7 to 10 of Jeremiah 18, God is focused on how His people finish. Not where we start, but where we end. If we start with apathy or rebellion but respond to His warnings, He blesses. If we start with responsiveness and end with rebellion or apathy, He reconsiders His blessings. Jesus made that clear in His parable of the two sons: one said he wouldn’t work in the father’s vineyard, then did; the other said he would, then didn’t (see Matthew 21:28-32). Only one, Jesus said, fulfilled his father’s plan. That principle applies to nations—as in the books of Jeremiah and Isaiah—and to individuals, as in every biblical call to obedience.
Our Potter is known for His extravagant mercy toward His clay. But clay meant for glory can end up in the trash. Extravagant mercy can be taken for granted and squandered.
IN DEED – There’s a difference between faith and presumption, but Christians confuse them often. We take God’s promises for granted. True faith leads to gratitude and service; presumption leads to complacency. And God’s mercy is rarely grasped by the complacent. Don’t presume on grace. If God has promised you blessing—and He has, you know—meet the conditions of the promise. Love Him, comply with Him, trust Him. In every detail of your life, follow His heart. In His integrity, the Potter will shape you not only according to His will, but also according to yours. Finish well. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. —A. W. TOZER (in “Worship the King” by Chris Tiegreen)

When we think of God’s integrity, we often see it from the perspective of His love, grace, and mercy – that God cannot be anything else but good. And often, it gives us license to stray because we know He will still love us anyway.
But today’s devotion reminds us that God’s integrity also includes His justice and righteousness – that as much as He loves us, He must also judge us. While we may not necessarily lose our salvation, Scripture makes clear that our actions in this world do have consequences (see 2 Tim 2:20-22, Romans 1-5, Matthew 25).
No one summarized this better than Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the understanding of “cheap grace.” If you need summer reading, take time to meditate on his book “The Cost of Discipleship” (chapter 1 can be found here: http://lib.tcu.edu/staff/bellinger/60013/Bonhoeffer_Discipleship.pdf). Meditate on Jeremiah 18, Romans 1-5, and Matthew 25 and ask the Holy Spirit to help you be a vessel of glory. Have a blessed week! – from Seattle, Pastor Sam