BIOGRAPHIES OF CLAY

Does not the POTTER have power over the CLAY, from the same LUMP to make one VESSEL for honor and another for dishonor? – Romans 9:21 (NKJV)

The pages of Scripture are copiously sprinkled with ‘biographies of lumps of clay’, from brief sketches like that of Jabez to extended narratives as that of David. It is an enthralling and worthwhile venture to trace in the lives of real people the interplay of divine providence and human responsibility. Bible biographies are not merely history, but history selected with a specific purpose in view. In their experiences we can discern the reflection of ours. We learn from their hard-won triumphs and their secrets are at our disposal without price. The stories of persons of a bygone age can bring inspiration to Christians battling amid the tests and trials of present-day living.

Personalities in the Bible did not possess superhuman qualities; they were people of “like passions”, ordinary folk whose lives were made extraordinary only by God’s extraordinary Grace and Faith: “Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are…” (Jam.5:17a). It is typical of most secular biography to pen the best and omit the flaws; but the Bible is careful to not hide the humanity of its characters. Glaring defects are not glossed over. Plain unvarnished facts are recorded plainly, with no effort at veneering. Noah is described as “a preacher of righteousness”, yet his excess of one occasion which bore such terrible fruit is not concealed (Gen.9:20-25; 2Pet.2:5). The stories of Abraham, father of the faithful, do not omit the failure of his faith. The glories and proverbial Wisdom of Solomon are juxtaposed with the folly of his later years.

Like the Potter that He is, God’s means and methods, though infinite in variety, are consistent and eternal. His Hand, wheels, water, and fire are constant and timeless. He quietly interjects in human affairs, weaving into His perfect plan the tangled strands of human experience. He always leaves us free to choose and to act, but never to the extent of frustrating His ultimate plan. We may by disobedience, rebellion or failure, temporarily hinder its fulfilment, but nothing and no one can ever finally defeat God’s eternal purpose. Many have tried disrupting it, but His Purpose stands perpetual.

The Biblical ‘biographies of clay’ confirm the lesson that in every life there is at least one outstanding climactic experience which constitutes the pivot on which that life is poised. The crucial test, the crisis encounter with God, a signal victory won, a tragic defeat sustained; any of these could be the watershed of a life, which determines its course for good or ill. By God’s grace, the rest of this month, we’ll be meditating on stories of how the Potter processed ‘lumps of clay’ into Vessels of Glory!