The Clay or the Potter?
Who Gets the Praise?
, by Emmanuel Higgins
Have you ever been to a concert performance for some very good musicians? Perhaps for a choir or a symphonic orchestra? It is very beautiful listening to the complex harmonies and the delightful melodies that some of these groups make.
Imagine you were at a concert and a world-class piano player was playing one of Mozart's beautiful piano pieces. The player was very talented and the grand piano was an excellent instrument. But what about, if at the end of the piece after everyone claps and cheers, they come up to the stage and say "Oh! What a wonderful piano!, What a marvellous instrument that is." or "if only I had a piano like that, then I too could play like this" or "You did a great job, piano."
It sounds very silly doesn't it! The piano didn't do anything, it was only the instrument.
Lets take a look at something in the bible, and we'll find out how this relates to you and I.
But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Isaiah 64:8
Did you know that we are like clay? Yes, Clay!
Can clay make itself into something beautiful like a vase or a pot? No! Of course not.
So when you see some beautiful pottery, do you say "What wonderful clay" or do you say "What an excellent potter"?
Do you see the point?
Jesus Said:
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5
Do we realise this? Without Jesus we do nothing! The context of this verse in John 15 is a tree bringing forth good fruit. Without Jesus we can bring forth no good fruit! All good things come from God.
Can you start to see the picture? We are like clay, we were all created by God and are the works of His hand. God is the master potter, and moulds the clay into something beautiful, because of itself, the clay can do nothing.
But why does the clay get so much praise? Why is it that we tend to praise each other so much, for doing such a good job, or for being so "talented". Somebody might say, "oh you're so wonderful, you're so good at playing the Violin, or you're so good at this and that". But shouldn't all praise and glory go to the potter rather than the clay? Shouldn't all honour go to the player rather than the instrument?
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Psalms 115:1
This is where all praise and honour should go! Not to us, no! But to God, the one who gives us life, the one who has given us talents, the one who is moulding us and making something beautiful from our lives.
Praise God for His mercy! For his Truth, for His great love in saving us from sin!
Really, when we take praise and glory to ourselves we are robbing God of the honour due to Him.
So remember:
Praise no man; flatter no man; and permit no man to praise or flatter you. Satan will do enough of this work. Lose sight of the instrument, and think of Jesus. Praise the Lord. Give glory to God. Make melody to God in your hearts. Talk of the truth. Talk of the Christian's hope, the Christian's heaven. - Ellen G. White, Manuscript 8a, 1888.
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.1. Corinthians 10:31
7 Comment(s)
Amen. That\'s true =) Cya around
Thanks for that reminder Emmanuel. It is important that we always give the glory to God in everything. For without Him, we can do nothing.
It is also very important to encourage one another when they have allowed God to work in them and to do a good job. But as Emmanuel said, we need to give God the glory. We can encourage by saying things like, \"Wow that is really well done. Praise God for giving you the talent to do that!\" That way all the glory goes to God.
Those verses you quoted, Emmanuel, remind me of the verses in 2 Corinthians 4:
\"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.\" (2 Corinthians 4:6,7)
Let us remember that we are but earthen vessels, that God wants to fill with treasure-God\'s treasure!
Yes Millie,
People need encouragement! It\'s a good thing to \"speak a word in season\" to say \"Praise God, for the work you are doing, keep it up.\" and to encourage each other to not become weary in well-doing.
We aught to speak encouraging words to each other, to build each other up, to be strong in the Lord! \"With man it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible\"
Yes, it is good to encourage people in this way. But we don\'t want to flatter a person or praise them as if they are so wonderful themselves. Because this teaches us to rely on ourselves rather than on help from the all powerful God that we so desperately need.
Yes, Encourage people in the good work they may be doing but we need to be so careful not to flatter, and teach people to rely on themselves, because all goodness comes from God.
So true .....any thing good in any of us is from God and He deserves all the praise !!!! But also lets encourage one another with words of encouragement - spoken in love - always for the edifying of each other. Lets esteem others more highly then ourselves.
Hey =D I get what you\'re saying and it\'s really good that God can use you in this way. But telling someone that they are wonderful or what they are doing is really good like I am to you isn\'t bad. People need encouragement. It helps them believe - regardless if they are Christian or not - that they are capable of doing something. And if they are a Christian, they can say, \"Yeah, I\'m so grateful God has given me this talent so I can praise Him and reach out to others with it...\" You know what I mean? It\'s why you say it that makes it either good or bad. They can say it to get something in return or they say it because they genuinely mean it - it\'s a compliment.
So true! Thank you. I really like the musical instrument analogy. Yes, it is God who deserves all the praise and not us at all. When we surrender our lives to Him we become instruments in His hands.
That is so true it is God that made all things and should receive the praise for all things in our lives.