Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Malachi 3:3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver ...
THE ALMIGHTY GOD IS ... MY REFINER!
Why does the prophet Malachi relay the Lord's self-portrait as a refiner and purifier of silver? Why would I care if God was like a refiner or not? It's helpful to remember in this context what a silversmith does. Although he may be sitting, a silversmith does not just sit there doing nothing. Many people claim this about God. "With all the problems and evil in this world, why doesn't your God do anything about it?" They taunt, "He must just be sitting there without a care, if he's there at all!" But that couldn't be farther from the truth.
Like God, a silversmith is constantly active. He is always carefully holding his precious and costly silver in his hands as He works with it. He keeps the fire ready at all times to soften the metal and often will hammer it to smooth out scrapes and scratches. His skillful timing all has an end goal in mind -- getting the silver to shine brightly.
The Apostle Peter spoke of all kinds of trials that come in life so that one's faith "of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:7). The Refiner picture makes perfect sense then. The Almighty God is ... MY Refiner in that He holds me in His hands having paid the costly sacrifice of His Son Jesus to make me His own. He puts me through the fire to prove or test my faith to successfully show it to be genuine and trustworthy. He works to forgive and clear up every one of my imperfections, because He wants to brightly display His loving work through me!
So if you asked a silversmith when it was time to take the silver from the fire, you'd get the same response from him as you would from the Almighty God. "Easy," He would say. "It's when I can see my own image in its reflection."
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, all praise, honor, and glory be to You as You refine me through all trials and temptations to be more like You.
