1-3 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’  So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5-6 Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 

7-10 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.  And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

11 ‘Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, “This is what the  Lord says: look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.”  12 But they will reply, “It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.”’ Jeremiah 18:1-12 New International Version

God used a 'visual aid' to convey His message to both Jeremiah and the nation. Notice what is said about the potter in vs 4 and God's application of that in vs 5-6.

'As seemed best to him'. So too, Israel was in the hands of God. But there is an important difference between clay and people. What would that be? (vs 7-10)

Clay is lifeless but people are not. God spoke of people responding to what He was shaping, and of His own response to their humility or stubbornness. The visual aid had shown that a marred object could be remoulded in the hands of the potter.

What a tremendous message of hope that should be to all of us. Our lives are never marred by God's hands (as the pot was by the potter) but by by our own hands. We turn aside to our own ways and follow the desires of our heart instead of the will of God. For some, it may just result in an indifference to God - which is still very serious – but for others it leads to the darkness of addictions and an abandonment to all sorts of vices. Many people end up shaped with regret, depression and despair.

But God is able to remould such lives and make them new. That happened in Corinth when people heard the gospel and believed on Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote: “You know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God! Those who are sexually immoral, or idolaters, or adulterers, or men who have sex with men, or thieves, or greedy, or drunkards, or slanderers, or swindlers, will not inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) God can forgive and remould lives that were deeply flawed by all manner of wrongdoing.

One would think that such a message of hope would be welcomed by all. But what did God tell Jeremiah the response of the Israelites would be when he gave them this picture of a potter who could crush or shape the clay in his hands? (vs 11-12)

The same can sadly be said of so many today. The gospel message which holds out the hope of God's transforming power is so often scorned and refused. We have so much to bless and thank God for if He humbled our heart and led us to repent of sin and turn from all evil. May He continue to mould our lives and shape us to be what He would have us be.