Houses of Clay

Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.
Job 4:18-19
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Houses of Clay
We are weak and frail creatures.  It is how we are made.  God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and we know since the fall, we all one day return to dust.  Our bodies wear out, they break down.  We live in houses of clay. And just like a house made of clay will not weather the storms and will easily be reduced to rubble, so to are we unable to weather the storms of the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.  Our sin reduces us to rubble.  Yet there is hope. Isaiah tells us, “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8) It is Christ’s hands which hold us and forms us in faith. It is in His hands where we find protection and shelter from the storms of life.  It is His hand which were pierced for us, so that we might not perish.  Left to ourselves we are simply clay houses being eroded by our sin, yet in the hands of the Potter, we are formed into living vessels forgiven and loved set apart for great things.
“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 2:20-21)