The world’s best and famous pottery makers or ceramic artists have created everything from clay sculptures for religious purposes to pottery for holding liquids and artistic ceramics for pleasure. The likes of late Beate Kuhn of Germany and Robert Anerson of America are well known for ceramic sculpture. Christopher David, one of the contemporary American ceramic sculptures, most recent works are concerned with the link involving nature and people.
According to the Cambridge Online English Dictionary, a potter is a person who makes dishes, plates, and other objects from clay, usually by hand on a special wheel. This involves the deployment of uncommon innovative and creative ability. Pottery making dates back to the genesis of man. The greatest and most creative Potter made all we see around us – mankind and animals from clay.
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7)
“And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” (Genesis 2:19)
One major difference between the Master Potter and other world’s famous pottery makers is that He formed man using clay and man became a living being after receiving His breath. Why do potters use clay? Why does the Bible liken mankind to clay? Collins English Dictionary describes ‘clay’ as a kind of earth that is soft when it is wet and hard when it is dry. Clay is shaped and baked to make things such as pots and bricks. Clay properties include: plastic behaviour when wet, catalytic abilities, swelling behaviour, and low permeability which makes it easier to be formed into various shapes and vessels. It is interesting to note that essential chemical elements – aluminum and magnesium, potassium, sodium, and calcium present in clay are found in man and animals.
Several Bible passages describe God as the Potter while man is described as clay. Isaiah 64:8 is an example of such scripture:
“But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.”
Therefore, it important to know that our lives are the work of God’s hand and just like clay in the hand of a potter, God uses all things in our lives to mold us, make us, shape us and even break us when necessary. It is left for us to be ‘plastic’ enough for God to work on us to be hard enough to face the challenges of life. Remember, God can make you that leader and changemaker you desire to be. But first you need to have a relationship with Him by accepting Jesus Christ into your heart. If you are yet to have a relationship with God, say this prayer of salvation: Dear Jesus Christ, come into my heart. I believe that You came, died and rose again to save me. I confess that You are my personal Lord and Savior and I declare that I am born again. Make me whatsoever and whosoever You want me to be. Amen!
By Sunday Omori
HEM Int'l 