Feb 13

And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Malachi 3:3

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this
statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women
offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group
at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and
made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about
the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of
refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver
over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one
needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were
hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God
holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that
says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith
if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a
moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."

Today, Lord, if we are feeling the heat of the fire, help us remember that God has His eye on us, and He will keep watching us while He looks for His image. At the moment when it appears hottest, when our impurities are being burned, when we have nothing to offer from ourselves except faith, that is when we can be the purest before Him. He will see us as in a shinny mirror of silver and behold His Son—the source of our life. Amen.



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