Jar Smashing
It’s amazing how far small shards of glass can fly when they are suddenly released on impact.
Jeremiah 19:1-15
Reference: v.11 and say to them, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. (NIV Bible)
Explore: I hate it when you smash a glass or plate on the kitchen floor and no matter how well you clean it up, you constantly find more fragments for the next week. It’s amazing how far small shards of glass can fly when they are suddenly released on impact. In our old house I accidently dropped a glass jar in our laundry as I was heading out the back door to put it in our recycling bin. I cleaned it up straight away and yet still found shards of the jar in the laundry, around the washing machine and even in to our living area a couple of days later. I was truly amazed when we moved out of that house 14 months later and I found more pieces of glass in the bottom of our laundry cupboard!
Application: When God told His people that He would smash the nation like a potter smashes a jar, He was sending a pretty clear message. And often God will send us fairly clear messages too. When He tells us to love one another He’s not wishy-washy about it at all. He commands us to love everyone – the down trodden, the marginalised, those in our communities and even our enemies. It’s not even when we feel like it or if they have been nice to us first. It’s straight down the line: love others. There are certainly some things that are mentioned in the Bible that we need to process and contextualize but there are others that are repeated over and over, which makes it a ‘jar smashing’ instruction from God. If we were to start by following those guidelines then we would be well on the way to leading a Christian life.
Prayer: Lord, sometimes we can muddy the waters of a clear instruction that You give us. Help us to know what is ‘jar smashing’ so that we can commit to following it with all our hearts. Amen.
What is a ‘jar smashing’ message you have received from God?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.