Two of my friends/neighbors I grew up with became enamored with kilns, due mostly to the fact that the mother of one of them had a ceramic business. When we became adults and went our separate ways, these two went into the kiln business together. In Biblical times, it was a necessary profession. The prophets, including Jesus, the greatest of them all, used the refining process as a metaphor for how God fashions and molds us; how He purifies and will purify all that is marred by sin.

We are formed, conformed, and transformed (if that works as a memory aid for you, may God be praised!). We are made in the image of Christ, yet it is a process. We are filled with His grace and truth, but it takes time, requires pain, and means change. Oh, how we fight against all three of those steps! It is only as we surrender our recalcitrance and become pliable that we draw closer to that ideal image. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes, “…God is beginning to turn us into the same kind of thing as himself.” As broken pots, we are still a treasure to The One who never ceases refining us. Give it time; be patient with Him and yourself; be willing to change. God always knows what is best, knows what is best for each and every one of us. The Potter, the Kiln-Firer, the Sculptor is never finished with us. The unconditional love is freely given, full of grace and truth.

Pastor Art