A group of women were in a Bible Study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women 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, this woman called up 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 “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 saying, 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.
Beloved, do you now see why the bible says, “”Christ is the visible image of the invisible God?. [Colossians 1:15]. If Christ is God’s image, then when God is purifying us, he is just making us better, and for our good. Not all troubles and problems we face are from the devil. Some are actually from God, because his eye is on us, as he removes the impurities that life has handed us. No-wander the bible still says, “all things God works for the good of those who love him, who i have been called according to his purpose.
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be “CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON”, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. [Romans 8:29].
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.