Devotion for January 25
January 25, 2012
… the kingdom of God is among you… Luke 17:21
Michael Sible is a potter. The method for firing his over-sized pottery is “saggar.” This involves putting the pottery along with colorants and sawdust in a brick box which, in turn, is placed in a kiln for firing. The pottery absorbs the colorants and carbon from the sawdust that burns up. Each piece is unique. No two pieces of pottery will ever duplicate the combination of carbon and colorants. And the designs are stunning. Even the artist is surprised by what emerges from that brick box.
I think the kingdom of God is like that. Instead of being a place or outcome, I’ve come to believe that Jesus understood the kingdom of God as a process – not unlike the saggar method Mr. Sible uses for his pottery. The kingdom of God is among us using the fire of life, the heat of anger and the carbon of anxiety, to create lives of beauty. God is the potter; our individual personalities are the clay; life is the kiln. And no two ever turn out exactly alike.
The promises of God are neither that our life kiln will never heat up nor that the sawdust of our experiences will not burst into flame. Over time they will. The promise of God is that the Holy Spirit will be at work coloring our lives with the spiritual blessings of eternity. Each of us has the possibility of being a unique and beautiful work of the Creator’s hand. We are God’s art in four dimensions.
I think I now understand how some of the most beautiful people are those who have come through great tragedy and still love. I have seen the fires of failure paint a life with a patience and grace for others that has been astonishing. And I have watched as the sawdust of difficulty has burst into flame, coloring a life with the golden glow of personal triumph.
What a great God we have in Jesus Christ… Amen.
