Reading With the People of God #14 Proverbsنموونە

Sterling Image

As followers of Christ Jesus, our hearts (our secret place within us) house His glory, His Holy Spirit. It is from this internal fire that we make the decision to be consumed by His presence, seeing the world around us through His eyes. When we truly submit to His hands like that of a master potter with His clay, we are changed. We take the back position of the tandem bike and allow Jesus the front seat to steer our lives as we pedal with Him, navigating the dips, turns, hills, and changes as we grow in Him.

God is our silversmith; He places us in the fiery forge of life. Precisely holding each of us within the fire (trials) to be cleansed of our debris (sin). The goal is to reflect His image to the world around us. The ancient technique of silversmithing is meticulous work, heating the silver ore, and constant hands-on attention. Waiting for the precise moment to remove the silver from the heat, the moment the fire has burned off the last impurity. How did the silversmith know when this moment had arrived? When his Image was reflected back to him without a single imperfection.

This is how God handles us.

When we are the reflection of Christ, we are generous and eager to help; we don't count the cost or decide what is fair based on human understanding. We give freely of our time, resources, and love, because it isn't we that are doing it, but Christ within us. From that secret place where His beautiful and glorious Spirit resides, He feeds us His knowledge. We dive into His Word, not looking to justify our position as royalty. We consume His Word to know more about the King who saved us from the darkness we were born into so that we might become the sterling vessels He has called us to be.

*Primer contributed by Ardena Hamill, Celebrate Recovery encourager at Cornerstone Community Chruch of Chowchilla