Vaso
A metáfora do vaso é uma das mais belas da Bíblia. Assim como o oleiro molda o barro, Deus nos forma segundo seus propósitos, fazendo de nós vasos úteis para sua glória.
Nas mãos do oleiro
Deus é o Oleiro e nós somos o barro. Ele tem autoridade e sabedoria para nos moldar conforme sua vontade perfeita, e não devemos questionar sua obra.
But now, O LORD, You are our Father;
we are the clay, and You are the potter;
we are all the work of Your hand.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will give you My message."
So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the wheel. But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do.
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, "Why did You make me like this?" Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—
one clay pot among many.
Does the clay ask the potter,
‘What are you making?’
Does your work say,
‘He has no hands’?
You have turned things upside down,
as if the potter were regarded as clay.
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
"He did not make me"?
Can the pottery say of the potter,
"He has no understanding"?
Vasos para honra
O cristão é chamado a ser um vaso de honra, purificado e preparado para toda boa obra. Nosso valor está em quem nos formou e no que carregamos.
A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use. So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.
Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
How the precious sons of Zion,
once worth their weight in pure gold,
are now esteemed as jars of clay,
the work of a potter’s hands!
Moldados pela graça
Mesmo quando nos sentimos frágeis e imperfeitos, o poder de Deus se aperfeiçoa em nossa fraqueza. Ele nos restaura e nos renova continuamente.
Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me.
Would You now turn and destroy me?
Please remember that You molded me like clay.
Would You now return me to dust?
Like glaze covering an earthen vessel
are burning lips and a wicked heart.
Wail, you shepherds, and cry out;
roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.
For the days of your slaughter have come;
you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.