Finest
Silver
There
was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they
were studying Chapter Three, they came across verse 3 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 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 in silver, 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 were 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 even 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. It's finished when I can see my image in
it."