RE Verse reading – Jeremiah 18:1-12; 19:1-15 (day seven)
“REFORM your ways and your deeds.” (19:11) We look back on the Reformers with respect and gratitude. 1517. Martin Luther nailing 95 Theses to the door of the All Saints church in Wittenberg, Germany. John Calvin writing the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Such courage! But do we recognize our own responsibility? Each of us is called to reform his own ways and deeds. “If I cannot change the world, I will change my part of it”, says the obedient heart. God calls us to do so. We are not lifeless clay. (This is the place where the analogy of Jeremiah 18 breaks down.) We are humans, created in the image of God, with great capacity for moral thought and action. We are not victims! “Can a man be born (new) when he is old?” (John 3:4) Yes! By the Spirit, through faith (as expressed in obedience) life can be reformed. “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” (1 Timothy 4:7)
