He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.

My good friend Clyde brought this wonderful little story by today, and I just had to share it.

Malachi 3:3 says "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this staement 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 of her interest beyond her curiosity and 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 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 th efire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but 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." If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Isn't that beautiful my friends? That God is watching us during our trials and He is leading us through the Holy Spirit to become more and more like Him? That we are being refined, and that the end result is that others will see God reflected in us? Ah how I want to grow so close to Him that I always feel Him guiding me and sheltering me. To get to the point where my life is a complete communion with Him. Do you want Christ to reflect in your life? Have you asked Him to mold you into the person He knows you can be?