WARNING!!!

Jeremiah 18:5-11
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

The Potter and the Clay

5 Then the Lord gave me this message: 6 “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. 7 If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, 8 but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. 9 And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, 10 but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.

11 “Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’”

The God of grace and mercy shows great restraint in not instantly pouring out His wrath on evil. He patiently waits, giving us opportunity after opportunity to repent … turn from our evil ways. He desires to build us up … do good to us … pour out His blessings. All He requires is that we turn from evil and do what is right.

Heed His warning! Just because His wrath has not yet come … we have not been “…uprooted, torn down, and destroyed…”, does not mean that God will withhold His wrath forever. This fate has been the history of great nations without moral restraint. History does not have to repeat itself if we will just do what is right.