Proverbs 17:3 "The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts."
Silver and gold in its natural state have impurities that must be refined. We
have read the story about the woman asking the refiner why he kept skimming
over the top of the silver. His answer is that he heats the silver and then
skims as the impurities rise to the top. He continues doing that until he can
see his own reflection in the silver. Both silver and gold need to be heated in
order for the impurities to be separated. Neither the silver nor the gold
will refine itself. There must be an outside heat applied in order for that to
be accomplished.
In our natural state, we have impurities that must be refined. We read in
Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things..." We cannot
refine impurities from our own hearts. I question whether we ultimately even
have a desire to refine ALL impurities within us. Just as gold and silver, we
need an outside force to refine the issues of the heart. Throughout all
Scripture, God speaks to us of the deceitfulness of the heart. We may think we
have refined, or removed, all those negative emotions and traits that bother
us, but the truth is that we are unable to complete that task. Therefore, God
applies just the proper amount of heat and pressure in order to cause the
impurities to rise to the top. He proceeds with the process of removing them.
What is the ultimate goal for removing our impurities, such as anger, jealousy,
envy, bitterness, and such like? "The Lord trieth the
hearts".... until His image is reflected in us. My desire this
morning is that others might see Christ in me and glorify His Holy name.