Malleable unto the Lord

Isaiah 64:8 “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.”

Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

When I was in school, I remember learning about the different kinds of elements that we see in the periodic table. Chemistry was never my favorite class, so I don’t remember too much about the subject, but one thing that really stuck out to me is how metal can be formed into sheets and is able to be moved around from its natural state - even though it’s an inherently strong material. The fact that metal is able to be transformed in this way is because it is malleable. “Malleable” means being capable of being shaped, altered, or controlled by outside forces. My question to you is this: Will you allow yourself to become malleable to the Lord? For His use? For your good?

Isaiah 18:1-6 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”

The Lord desires to change your life… for the better. He desires a relationship with us, for us to be His children. He desires for you to come to Him and to let Him cleanse you of your sins and iniquities. His desire is to shape us into a vessel He can use for His glory. This alteration will come at the expense of our own wants, and sometimes it might be uncomfortable for our flesh to endure this process, but whatever God does will always end up being for our own good. 

“And the longer you delay, the more your sin gets strength and rooting. If you cannot bend a twig, how will you be able to bend it when it is a tree?” --- Richard Baxter

Proverbs 21:2 “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.”

The way of the Lord is the way we ought to want to go. We often think we know what's best for ourselves, but are we willing to let Jesus direct us toward what HE wants?

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Ezekiel 36:25-27 “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Jesus died so that we could be free of sin and bondage. He defeated the grave so we could have everlasting life. We used to be chained to this natural flesh with all of its desires and demands, but in Jesus, we are free indeed! We are made as NEW!

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Do we want to be changed? Do we want the Lord to use us for HIS glory? Do we want to look like Him? 

Romans 12:1-3 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

Philippians 4:12-13 “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

There will be times that we have much, and there will be times that we have little. Nonetheless, there will still be work to do in the kingdom of God. Are you willing to have little, yet still go and do what He’s asked of you? Are you willing to “count the cost”? Scripture plainly lays out that we “present our bodies a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1) this meaning that we LIVE for God… after all, he DIED for us!! And not only this, but scripture also tells us that this is doable. This is our REASONABLE service. (Rom. 12:1)

To be malleable is to be able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking. Where we DON’T want to be pliable or malleable when it comes to things of this world, we DO want to be malleable to the Lord. Let Him shape your life without breaking or cracking from the trials and tribulations of this life. 

Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

He is calling us all to be malleable, adaptable,  receptive, and workable, so that we can be transformed into the image of Jesus and reflect His glory. It could be that God is deforming your old nature that you may be reshaped to reflect the image of God.