Jars of Clay

7 Les
son
Jeremiah 18:1-6; The Ministry of Healing, pp. 471, 472

S ammy loved to make things from clay or play

dough. It was very soft and it felt so good. He
made animals, buildings, cars, p ­ eople, and cups. The clay
clay together. He f­astened them firmly onto
one side of the pot to make a handle. With a
happy smile he slid his ­creation off the wheel,
in Sammy’s hands became whatever Sammy wanted. setting it carefully on the drying shelf. What
A man in the Bible enjoyed working with clay too. was once a slab of clay had become a
Perhaps it happened like this . . . beautiful clay ­pitcher.

L
The potter looked out at the busy
ifting the corner of a wet cloth, the street. Customers stood nearby
skilled artist cut a slab of clay from watching him work. Some bought
the large lump. He slapped it on his potter’s clay pots for water or flour. But the
wheel and sat down. He pulled his robe potter kept ­working. His fresh batch
up to his knees. Then slowly he of clay wouldn’t last long.
begins to turn his wheel and form He cut another slab from the
the clay. batch. As he had done before,
Underneath the he slapped it onto his potter’s
potter’s hands the wheel. Round and round, and
clay seemed to up and down. As
take on a life of the sides
its own. Once of a water-
flat, it now pot rose
had a hollow between his
center and hands, his
smooth, pale attention
sides. The was drawn
potter dipped to a man
his hands watching
quickly in a him. The
basin of water and potter looked up
returned to his work. and smiled. But
Almost lovingly, his in that instant the sides
hands put pressure on of the pot fell into the center
the clay, and the shape and the spinning wheel came to a stop.
responded instantly. Rounded sides began “Oh, I’m so sorry,” the man said as his hand
to narrow to a long neck. A lip was formed flew to his mouth.
in the front. Then the potter’s wheel slowed The potter waved his hand in the air.
and came to a stop. “Think nothing of it,” he said. “I’ll fix it in no
The potter ­braided some smooth pieces of time.”

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 The Message
God holds me in His hands
and molds me. Memory Verse
“[O Lord,] we are the
clay, you are the potter;
The man introduced himself. “My name is
Jeremiah. I was sent here by God to watch you
we are all the work of
work.” your hand”
The potter seemed interested. “The beauty
(Isaiah 64:8, NIV).
of clay,” he said, “is that if it is too thin in one
spot, or if I find mistakes as I go along, I just
pinch out the problem or pat down the lump
and start over. Sometimes that
makes it even stronger When I’m happy with it, others will find it
than before. I always try beautiful and useful too.”
to make the clay into Jeremiah nodded. “Your work is ­beautiful,”
what it seems best for.” he said. He stood and watched the pot-
“So mistakes can ter for a few minutes longer. Then he
be fixed,” Jeremiah admired the objects on display once
suggested. more. There were small oil lamps for
“That’s right. I can a ­bedroom; pitchers of all sizes for
shape and reshape the cream, milk, or water; huge pots for
clay until it’s just what it storing olives or grain, or for cool-
should be. ing water. Everything was made
from the same material, by the
same creator. Yet each was a
little different. Each one had
a special purpose.
This was the lesson
God wanted Jeremiah to
learn. That was why
He had sent Jeremiah
to watch the potter at
work. Now Jeremiah
could explain how
God shapes each
person’s life, how
He corrects the
mistakes that hap-
pen and uses them to
form ­something beautiful. In
God’s hands every life can be
of service to others.

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 S A B B A T H S U N D A Y
D O Take a walk with your family. Look for R E A D During family worship, read and discuss
beautiful things made from clay. Jeremiah 18:1-4. Ask someone to help you find and
read about clay in an encyclopedia. Tell three things
R E A D Read your Bible lesson story together.
you learned.
Then read and discuss Isaiah 64:8.
D O Look around your house. How many things
S I N G Sing “I Want to Be” (Sing for Joy,
are made of clay? Thank God for them.
no. 124) before prayer.

For more
than 40 years Jeremiah
gave God’s messages to the
M O N D A Y Israelites.

R E A D Read and discuss Jeremiah 18:5, 6

with your family.
D O Trace around your hand with a pencil onto
paper. Write the words of your memory verse in
different colors on the hand tracing. Read the
verse out loud. Read your name instead of “we.”
Then put the name of each family member in
the verse and read it to them.

T U E S D A Y W E D N E S D A Y
D O With your family, read Jesus’ prayer about letting
R E A D Together with your family, read God mold Him in Matthew 26:42. When did He pray this
Lamentations 4:2. What does this verse mean prayer?
to you?
S H A R E In Sabbath School you made something to
D O Make a pinch pot from clay or play dough. share with someone. Share it today. (Or make a picture
Here’s how: Knead the clay to make it soft. of a clay cup or plaque.) As you give it away, remind that
Form the clay into a ball. Push one thumb into person that Jesus is the potter and wants to make each
the center, but not through it. Cup one hand of us into something really special. Pray for that person
under the clay and use the other to pinch the today.
clay as you turn it. The opening will get larger D O Say your memory verse from memory.
and larger. Carefully scratch a design on the
side. Let your pot dry.
S I N G Sing “Right Now” (Sing for Joy, no. 123)
P R A Y Ask God to continue to mold with your family.
and shape your life according to His will.

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 T H U R S D A Y F R I D A Y
D O Tell your lesson story to your family during worship
D O With help, draw and color a rainbow time. Show the pinch pot you made this week.
on a paper plate.* Draw five small clouds on
D O How should we respond when God wants to mold
white paper and cut them out. Write one of
the following on each cloud: (1) God keeps us? Sing together “Have Thine Own Way, Lord” (The
His promises; (2) Acts 1:11; (3) Psalm 91:11; SDA Hymnal, no. 567). Then say your memory verse
(4) Malachi 3:6; (5) Psalm 50:15. Attach together as a prayer.
the clouds to the paper plate so they hang
from the bottom of the rainbow. Hang it
where all can see. During family worship,
read the promises and tell what they mean
to you.
P R A Y Thank God for all His promises.
_______
*The order of the rainbow spectrum is red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo, violet.

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