Jeremiah 18:1-6 / Matthew 13:47-53
Christianity is a religion of love. It is about God's love for us and that love is expressed in the person of Jesus Christ who came to show us God's love and died on the Cross to save us.
It is from that love that we also come to know that God is merciful and compassionate and He is also forgiving.
But just as there are two sides of a coin, there is also the other side that we must not forget and certainly not to be overlooked.
In the Bible, whenever the people of God sinned and were unfaithful and turned to idolatry, God sent punishment upon them to make them repent.
So when the love of God is overemphasised at the expense of the justice of God who metes out punishment for sin, then God's love may be taken for granted and sin may be taken lightly since God is merciful and compassionate and forgiving.
The two readings express the justice of God against sin and evil.
In the 1st reading, whenever the vessel that the potter was making came out wrong, he would start afresh and work it into another vessel.
And with that came this warning from God: Can I not do to you what the potter does?
In the gospel, Jesus also talks about punishment for sin and evil.
If we believe in God's love, then we certainly wouldn't want to sin.
More than just the fear of punishment, we certainly don't want to lose the peace and joy of God's love.
So let us turn away from sin, and let us give thanks to God for loving us and saving us.