Jeremiah 18:4
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
The marred clay remade into another vessel as seemed good to the potter declares God's sovereign authority as Potter to reshape Israel, nations, and His people when they go wrong, dealing with them differently as He chooses. His dealing is conditional upon response: a nation warned of destruction that turns from evil will be spared, and those who abandon wrongdoing may avert threatened judgment, while a nation promised good that does evil will lose that good. The same remaking shows His desire to save the marred, defective worker by shaping and refashioning individual workers and people according to His will and likeness. He knows what kind of vessel each person should become and what work and place best fit that person.
The potter's methods of kneading, tearing apart, pressing together, wetting, drying, shaping, trimming, and polishing until the clay suits him and becomes a fit vessel illustrate how God molds and purifies people to make them useful vessels. By grace and truth He fashions them into well-formed vessels that display His glory. The verse therefore calls for submission: people must yield themselves, heed His instruction, surrender to His will, stay open to divine impressions, and be emptied of pride, self-sufficiency, and personal will and judgment. They are to let Him take away defects, seeing the imperfections shown to them and putting them away, including peculiar ways fastened upon the work, rather than trying to direct the work or do the potter's work themselves.
Submission allows Him to remake the person into a fitting vessel of honor, united with Christ and bearing His likeness, reflecting His purpose with beauty and perfection. Thus yielded, the worker becomes more useful and triumphs with the truth. Refusal lets wrong tendencies and defects deform character, spoils His work, and keeps them from the perfection and beauty He desires. If responsibility is thrown off and the remolding is resisted, what remains is a ruined man.