Read: Malachi 3: 1-4
“... For He will be like a refiner’s fire ... He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; ...” - Malachi 3: 2.3
Jesus here is characterized as like a refiner and purifier of silver not to destroy but purify His people Israel. The silversmith would put the crude silver ore in a crucible in the smelting furnace and subject it to intense heat. In those days the silversmiths would sit looking into their metal furnaces to determine from the colour of the metal if it was pure. When the silver ore is molten, it gives off oxygen. This was treated with charcoal to prevent it from reabsorbing the oxygen from the air as it coded. If it did, it would lose its lustre. In the liquid state, the worthless impurities in the silver ore would rise to the surface and be skimmed off as dross. The process of purifying becomes complete when suddenly the silver becomes a liquid mirror in which the refiner could see his own reflection. Our Lord Jesus keeps us in the furnace of suffering until we reflect the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ. Suffering is one of the tools God uses to mould us and transform us with the likeness of Christ. When His people are wayward and violate His covenant, God seeks to bring them back by refining them. (Jeremiah 9:7) God tries them in the furnace of affliction.
Dear friends, when God puts His own people into the furnace, He knows how long and how much they need to be there in it. If we submit He will not permit us to suffer one minute long. The important thing is that we need to learn the lesson that He wants to teach us. Let us not fear the fire but let us understand the furnace only makes us purer and brighter. PRAYER: Dear Lord, let me not rebel against You when I go through trials. Let me remember that You are employing on me the refining process to remove all my dross and impurities so that I would be purified and reflect Your glory. Give me Your grace to be steadfast in faith. Amen.
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