I came across something in my daily reading, and it’s so cool- I wanted to share it…

Malachi 3:3 reveals that the Lord comes both “like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.” And so, I found out that the “fullers’ soap” (or alkali) was a strong soap used in the ancient Near East to whiten clothing.

But it was the refiner’s fire that really made for a cool word picture… This is a method of purifying precious metals with intense heat. Impurities, the stuff other than the gold or silver, float to the top during this process and get skimmed off and discarded. Here’s what’s cool;  the refiner knows that the process of purification is complete by glancing into the molten metal. He knows the bad stuff, the impurities, have all been skimmed away when he can see his reflection clearly.  So, God is looking for His reflection… IN US!

As Lisa Tuerkurst writes about this, she says, “This is what we were made to do — to clearly reflect the image of our Maker. Genesis 1:27 tells us God created us in His likeness and image. But when sin entered the world, we were marred by sin. We were left spiritually disfigured and defiled. The purification process removes that sin and disfigurement and restores our ability to reflect the goodness of God Himself.”

First of all, I love that our Father sees us as precious, like gold or silver.  And that he takes the time to patiently ‘refine’ us until we begin to take on the image of our maker.  Lord, help us to be patient, in the refiner’s fire…

-Kevin