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His Image In Us

by Jerry Ousley  
10/03/2008 / Christian Living

There's a story of a lady who was part of a women's Bible Study group that was studying in the book of Malachi. The women wondered exactly what Malachi 3:3 meant and how it was related to God. The verse says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver . . ." One of the ladies decided to explore this further and so visited a silversmith, asking him if she could watch as he processed the material.

The silversmith went to work and she watched as he took a piece of the silver and held it over the fire. As he worked he explained that it was necessary to hold the material over the fire where it was the hottest. This allowed all the impurities in it to burn away.

She watched the process with intense interest as she thought about the passage that again said, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked him if it was really necessary for him to sit and watch as the process took place. His answer was that yes it was necessary and not only did he have to sit there but he could not afford to take his eyes from it at anytime during the process or he would risk having it ruined if it stayed in the fire too long.

The lady was quiet for a bit then asked the silversmith, "Just how do you know when the process is finished?" The man answered without doubt or hesitation, "That's the easy part; it's finished when I see my own image in it."

Romans 8:29 says, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." God looked way out ahead, in fact from the very beginning of time, and saw those of us who would come to Him. He gives every man, woman, boy and girl the opportunity to come to Him. He loves everyone He has ever created. But in His unique and divine foreknowledge He knows those who will accept His call and those who will not. He didn't create anyone to be doomed for destruction but He does know those who will accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and come safely into the Kingdom. Only God possesses such knowledge and has the wisdom to act prudently on it.

The key is that we will be conformed to the image of His Son. He is like the silversmith. He sits and watches intently, each life that comes to Him. He feels the pain we feel and knows how difficult the process of burning out all the wastes and impurities can be. We have a lot of them. Sometimes it takes longer for some than it does others. It's different for each of us and that is by no means to say that some are better than others. We all need to be purified each in our own way. He created each of us different and unique which means we not only have our individual qualities but we also have our individual faults.

Often it seems as if the process will never end and frankly, for most of us it won't end until we are ready for Heaven. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes we may feel that death is imminent. We wonder why we have to go through some of the things that we do. We question as to why we must suffer so, when it seems that others have it easy. Only God knows the answers to those questions.

The good thing about this refining process is that we are not going through it alone. God Himself sits with His eye steadily on us. He sees everything we go through. He knows our pain and our suffering. He hurts for us but He also knows that this process is absolutely necessary if we are to make Heaven our home. It's comforting and wonderful to know that His eye never leaves us, because He's waiting for that right moment to remove us from the fire. That moment will come when He sees His image in us.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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