“Take away the dross from the silver,
and the smith has material for a vessel”
Have you ever watched a silversmith work his magic? It’s quite intriguing to see the excruciatingly hot furnace burn everything to ash, leaving only the purest of the metals. The leftover is the only useful element of the whole product. The process to meliorate a perfect piece of jewelry is through intense fire. The higher quality my silver pennant, the more money the jeweler will siphon from my bank account. The saying, you get what you pay for, is true on so many levels. A silver pennant at a dime store may look nice the first few days, but eventually, the outside coating will wear off exposing the pennant’s true nature…fake junk.
I wrote about the Refiner a year ago here: Refined Restoration. I love the analogy Solomon uses in this verse to describe the process by which God clears out our flaws. It hurts to realize we have issues. When the “Silversmith” exposes our imperfections, the process of cleaning out our hearts is without a doubt downright humiliating. Recently, a lady sat across the table from me stating how she could write novels about others who did such-n-such to her. But then, stated that she never did such-n-such to anyone else. As I respectfully kept quiet, my mind was recalling several instances where she had done such-n-such to me! Do I only see the flaws of others and not of myself? Lord, burn me in that fire…
Ouch!!
But, the second half of the verse gives us hope. Most of us wonder if we have purpose in life. His word says we were created with purpose. The problem with us humans…we are too fearful of pain, too full of pride, to allow Him to mold us into a creation of usefulness, a useful vessel. Because of the inherited sin nature, we are full of flaws, personality defects, and death. Are we letting God grow and mature us? When we allow God to run us through the “fire” to take away our dross (flaws), we cool into pure creatures full of God’s love.
Are we fake junk…
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
.
and the smith has material for a vessel”
Have you ever watched a silversmith work his magic? It’s quite intriguing to see the excruciatingly hot furnace burn everything to ash, leaving only the purest of the metals. The leftover is the only useful element of the whole product. The process to meliorate a perfect piece of jewelry is through intense fire. The higher quality my silver pennant, the more money the jeweler will siphon from my bank account. The saying, you get what you pay for, is true on so many levels. A silver pennant at a dime store may look nice the first few days, but eventually, the outside coating will wear off exposing the pennant’s true nature…fake junk.
I wrote about the Refiner a year ago here: Refined Restoration. I love the analogy Solomon uses in this verse to describe the process by which God clears out our flaws. It hurts to realize we have issues. When the “Silversmith” exposes our imperfections, the process of cleaning out our hearts is without a doubt downright humiliating. Recently, a lady sat across the table from me stating how she could write novels about others who did such-n-such to her. But then, stated that she never did such-n-such to anyone else. As I respectfully kept quiet, my mind was recalling several instances where she had done such-n-such to me! Do I only see the flaws of others and not of myself? Lord, burn me in that fire…
Ouch!!
But, the second half of the verse gives us hope. Most of us wonder if we have purpose in life. His word says we were created with purpose. The problem with us humans…we are too fearful of pain, too full of pride, to allow Him to mold us into a creation of usefulness, a useful vessel. Because of the inherited sin nature, we are full of flaws, personality defects, and death. Are we letting God grow and mature us? When we allow God to run us through the “fire” to take away our dross (flaws), we cool into pure creatures full of God’s love.
Are we fake junk…
- Are we full of impatience, unkindness, envy, boastfulness, arrogance, and rudeness?
- Do we insist on our own way?
- Are we irritable or resentful of others?
- Do we hold grudges?
- Do we relish or laugh at bad behavior?
- Do we celebrate when truth is exposed…or do we even seek truth?
- Love.
- It tolerates all things.
- Love is loyal.
- Love believes there is value in everyone.
- Love does not give up on hope.
- Love prevails.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
.
