I look forward to Easter every year. It’s a time of new beginnings. As a child, I was excited about the Easter Bunny, Easter egg hunts, lots of candy, and my new Easter clothes. Then as I grew older, my faith matured, and I became intrigued how my relationship with God was deepening. A story I recently ran across by Anne Kephart, tells it perfectly:
“There was once a group of women studying the book of Malachi in the Old Testament. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and 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 about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment 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 sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered ‘Yes,’ and explained that 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 even a moment too long in the flames, it would be damaged.
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.’
When I read this story, it was as if a lightning bolt hit me: “Do people see Jesus in me?” The bigger question is, “if not, why not?” It’s been said that when a person clings to Jesus so tightly, they begin to disappear and Jesus’ life and nature become evident — that’s when people see Jesus within a person. Yes, I must get out of the way so that others can see Jesus in my life.
The world will still see my plump physique, the scars from my knee surgery, and the graying hair on my head … but when the world looks at me, I pray they see the heart, love, nature, character, attitude, and life of Jesus? I want to be In His Image.
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
Debby Efurd is co-founder of Cary John Efurd Ministries of Pittsburg, TX. She has been a contributor to Bound for Life and written numerous articles published in LifeNews, Christian Post and the Baptist Standard, and is the author of Go Tell It! Debby can be contacted at caryjohnefurdministries@gmail.com.
