“The Silversmith”
In the Bible, in the book of Malachi, we are told that God is a Silversmith. What exactly does that mean? How is God a Silversmith? What is a silversmith?
Well, a silversmith is a person, a craftsman, who takes raw ore and extracts the pure silver ore from it; you could say that the silversmith takes something raw and rough and of no value; he takes it and makes it beautiful and pure and of great value.
But just how does the silversmith make this happen? How does the whole process work? Well, according to information provided, here are the steps a silversmith will follow to make pure silver:
1) He takes his torch and adjusts it to just that place, just that degree where the fire, the flame, is at its’ very hottest. Why so hot? Because it is the intense heat that actually changes the rock, melts it down, and makes it new and special and pure.
2) Next, he takes the rock, the raw ore, and with his big fire proof, heat proof gloves, he takes a set of big pliers, like tongs, grabs the rock with the tongs, and puts it directly into the fire. Now, of course, this is very extreme, and the rock gets so hot that it begins to actually break down from the intense heat; it begins to change, as the old, course pieces, the parts of no value or worth, begin to fall off.
Something very important to mention here – during this melting, this changing process, the silversmith never takes his eye off of the rock. He holds it with the tongs, never letting it go, and he watches the process as it takes place. If he walked away, went for coffee or to do another project, took his eye off, then the raw ore would stay in the intense flame too long, and the rock, and the silver, would be destroyed forever. So, the silversmith waits and watches.
3) But just when does the raw ore become silver? How does the silversmith know just that moment to take the rock out of the flame? According to my research, the Silversmith knows the moment of purity is complete whenever he sees his actual reflection in the rock; at that moment it is now pure silver.
Wow, what an amazing process, and what a wonderful picture of our Lord as a silversmith – not a Smith working with rocks, but people. We come to Him asking, begging, for Him to make us more like Him. We pray, we seek, we beg, “Please God, fill me up with your Holy Spirit; make me more like you!”
“Are you sure?” He says; “Are you certain?”
“Oh yes, Lord, more than anything. Please give me a pure heart, a pure mind, help me to walk in a way that glorifies You.”
“Ok” He says.
Then, what does He do? He places us in the fire; not just in the edges, but in the hottest part, the hottest place, in the fire so that we can be more like Him.
But, if we’re not careful, we lose sight of the process. We wonder what has happened; “I asked God to make me more like Him, but now I am in great hardship, everything is getting harder; what did I do to deserve this?” We fall to our spiritual knees – we are helpless in the intense heat. We try to get out, but we cannot – God is keeping us in the fire.
But, here’s the key, here’s what we must remember – God has never left, He didn’t go on a coffee break or some other project – He is there with us; He never takes His Hands off of us, He never takes His Eye off of us; we’re not alone, or forgotten; we are being changed.
So, how long must we stay in that fire? When does God pull us out? This is the beautiful part – He takes us from the fire, the process of purity is complete, get this, when God can see Himself in us! Wow!
So, today, are you seeking to be more like God? To be more holy, to be more spirit filled, to be a more powerful witness and presence in this world for Him? Then ask, ask to be made pure in Him. But don’t forget, before you can be made pure silver in Him, there first must be the fire!
Oh God, please help us to seek the fire of Your purifying. Help us to want to be like You!
