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Several times I have read or heard the story of the woman who watched the silversmith as he was refining silver. It goes something like this:
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 fire 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.’ (Malachi 3:3) 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 that yes, 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.’
From the very beginning God created man in His image. He intended that mankind be a reflection of Him as we lived out our lives on earth. And we all know what happened…sin tarnished that image. The words of Malachi 3:3 are such an encouragement as we learn that God is a refiner and purifier. Like a silversmith, He intently watches over us as He takes us through a process to remove our impurities, allowing us to once again be reflections of Him. What a beautiful God we serve! He takes us as in as we are but loves us too much to leave us there. He takes away the remnants of shame, guilt, and all the other stains that our sin or the sins of others leave behind.
The moment we are born again, we become new creations, and he wants us to be constantly changing to look more like Him and be a reflection of Him in this world.
2 Corinthians 3:18 says,
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
The Holy Spirit is the one who helps us become like God, This week at the table, we talk about being intentional, and listening to the leading of the Spirit so that we can look more like our Father. Cherry and I are committing ourselves to be more intentional this year to engage in this purifying process so that we can better reflect the beautiful image of our creator. Won’t you join us with this challenge. Can you imagine the difference that could be made in the world if everyone who calls themselves a Christian was an accurate representation of God? Jesus was a perfect reflection of the Father. Jesus said, “anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) Join us for the conversation this week as we learn from Jesus’ example.
