This is a piece my brother just sent me.  I liked the message and I want to share it with you.

There was once a group of women studying the book of Malachi in the Old Testament.  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 about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week the 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 are the hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot-then she thought once again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the blacksmith 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 “yes” and explained that he not only had to sit here 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 even a moment too long in the flames, it would be damaged.

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 can see myself in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of the world’s fire, just remember that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ are refining you.  “You are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.”

-Unknown

It is through the unconditional love God gives us through the gift of His Son Jesus Christ we can be refined and purified like silver in the flames by his loving grace and forgiveness.  Thanks be to God.

Patty