Some ladies in a women’s Bible study were wondering about the process of refining silver. One of the ladies decided to visit a silversmith. She went to watch him work.
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 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 the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, 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"
When people look into our lives do they see the image of Jesus in us? If not, perhaps God may place us in the fire to refine us until the image of Jesus shines out from our life.
When God refines us he puts all of our lives over his all consuming fire to bring out of us the clutter that has infiltrated us. In love he looks down into our hearts and spirits and seeks to see the reflection of His Son there.
We must stop and ask ourselves if we are living lives that please God and allows others to see Jesus in us. When we go to bed at night we need to pray and ask God: “Did I live today in the way that pleases you?” Living life this way affects the lives of others who live, work and play around us.
Pastor Scott Camp was working on an assignment for a doctoral thesis. As a college student he spent a year with a group of Navajo Indians on a reservation in the Southwest. As he did his research he lived with one family, sleeping in their hut, eating their food, working with them and generally living the life of a 20th Century Indian.
The old grandmother of the family spoke no English at all, yet a very close friendship formed between the two. They spent a great deal of time sharing a friendship that was meaningful to each, yet unexplainable to someone else. In spite of the language difference they shared the common language of love and understood each other. Over the months he learned a few phrases of Navajo and she picked up a little of the English language.
When it was time for him to return to the campus and write his thesis, the tribe held a going-away celebration. It was marked by sadness since the young man had become close to the whole village and all would miss him. As he prepared to get up into the pickup truck and leave, the old grandmother came to tell him good-bye. With tears streaming from her eyes, she placed her hands on either side of his face, looked directly into his eyes and said, "I like me best when I'm with you."
Perhaps that is a great expression of the image of Jesus. Other people learn to like themselves when they are around us.
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