Can a Leopard Change Its Spots?

A couple of things came together in my mind recently: A comment that Arthur Blank (owner of the Atlanta Falcons), and a song introduction.

Arthur Blank said, of Michael Vick's comment that he had turned his life over to God, "God gives us the ability to make choices and what we do with those choices is our responsibility, not God’s responsibility.” Can Michael Vick change? The expression of course, is that leopards can't change their spots, but people are not leopards, and behaviors, even deeply ingrown ones, are not things that we necessarily carry from birth to the grave. Some behaviors are difficult to change; there are many twelve step programs out there to facilitate change. I don't think that Peta has come up with a twelve step program for treating animals humanely, though.

The song introduction was for a song called, "The Potter's Hand." The song title comes from a scripture in Isaiah 64:8. The basic idea is that, just as Adam was formed from the dust of the earth, God has formed each of us for His use, and His purpose. We don't always want to be used the way He wants to use us, but, it's very much like a vase that has been formed by an artisan suddenly deciding that it would rather be a sugar bowl. Let's face it, even though they might be formed from the same clay, and even fired in the same kiln, a vase isn't going to make a very good sugar bowl. You could break the vase into pieces, and then grind the pieces into powder, and then mix the powder into fresh clay and make a sugar bowl, but that's a lot of work, and probably not worth the trouble. Sometimes God has to go through pretty much that same process with us, because we have tried to recreate ourselves in the image that we would like to have and ended up just making ourselves useless...

The bottom line is, sometimes people do change. Not as often as we should, probably, but we do. It is certainly easier with God's help, but, even then, we have to acknowledge that He created us for His plan. Our plans won't always mesh with God's plan, but He has a better view of the 'big picture.' There was a cartoon that went around a few years back that showed a golfer praying for a sunny day, while a farmer prayed for rain. Sometimes it may not seem like God has your best interests at heart, but He does. Give it time, and see how His plan works out, even if that means that you have to change.