The Image of God in our
life (silver or gold)
Some time ago, a few ladies
met in a certain city to study the
scriptures. While reading the third
chapter of Malachi, they came upon
a remarkable expression in the third verse:
"And He shall sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver." (Malachi 3:3)
One lady proposed
to visit a silversmith and report to them on what the smith
said about the subject. She
went accordingly, and without telling the object of her errand, asked the
silversmith to tell her about the process
of refining silver.
After he had fully
described it to her, she asked, "But Sir, do you sit while the
work of refining is going on?" "Oh, yes madam," replied the silversmith;
"I must sit with my eye
steadily fixed on the furnace, for
if the time necessary for refining
be exceeded in the slightest degree,
the silver will be injured." The lady at once
saw the beauty,
and comfort too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
God sees it needful
to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily
intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged
in the best manner for us. Our trials
do not come at random, and
He will not let us be tested
beyond what we can endure.
Before she left, the
lady asked one final question, "When do you know
the process is complete?" "Why that is
quite simple," replied the silversmith.
"When I can see my own
image in the silver, the refining process
is finished."
We all together in the end may ask this
coming question to ourselves and help others to apply it as well: So can God see Himself
clear in the mirror of our lives??
Help us Lord to be so!!
There hath
no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is]
faithful, who will not suffer you
to be tempted above that ye
are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way
to escape, that ye may be
able to bear [it].1 corinthians 10 : 13
Create in me
a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51 : 10
For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might
be the firstborn
among many brethren . Romans 8 : 29