12.10.07
“IT’S TOO HOT!”
Malachi 3:2-4
“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the LORD, as in the days of old, as in former years.”
Images are often awesome symbols. They can provide wordless messages of hope and life. It is of interest that we are told the reason for so many stained glass windows in the great cathedrals of Europe, was because most people could not read. The colorful stained glass scenes told their wordless stories.
Yesterday Joyce and I watched a documentary on Public Television of a glass blower who created a solid glass ball that weighed over 100 pounds. He was commissioned by the Corning Glass Company to created the piece in recognition of their 1,000th glass paperweight.
The massive undertaking to prepare for the creation of such a monumental piece was mind boggling. Special ovens and equipment had to be designed. Trained glass blowers were recruited to assist with the project and dry runs were performed before the drawing out of the molten glass from the oven.
The intricate process called for gathering layer upon layer of molten glass at the end of a long tube, then building the glass up to the desired weight. The sphere is about 13 inches in diameter and contains more than 60 different colors of glass. Each color of glass has a different rate of cooling and many of the spheres had small cracks in one or more of these layers.
Once the weight and shape were reached, the glass was fired, coming out of the oven at 1,000 degrees before cooling down at room temperature. The cooling process was 10 weeks long. It took fourteen months and twelve attempts before success was attained.
Here is a personal question for you: How long does it take for God to shape and mold you? Does it feel like the heat is too high or does the Lord leave you too long in the fiery furnace?
A group of women were having 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 a 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 she made an appointment with a silversmith 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 will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver.”
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire 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.”
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.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
- - - Pastor Cecil