The Refining Process

Last Wednesday we had our church Bible Study and one of the topics that came up had to do with the "refining process" in our lives.  Our Pastor explained the similarities between the process of gold being refined and Christians being refined....

The Gold Refining Process:

In the old days, when the gold needed to be separated from the impurities, they would put the gold into a pot filled with water and then would bring the water to a boil.  As it would boil the "dross" or impurities would rise to the surface of the pot.  The dross would be spooned away and they would continue the process of boiling the water and spooning the impurities that floated to the top until you could see your reflection in the water with no blemish.

The Christians Refining Process:

God creates a new creature when we accept His gift of salvation and repent of our sins.  However we are still human and are full of "impurities."  God brings trials and lessons into our lives that cause boiling pressure in our lives, but if we see the boiling time as part of God's plan and part of the refining process, then bit by bit the impurities will be taken away.  Our ultimate goal is to be like Christ.  To be so like Him that when people look at us, they see a reflection of Him.

I loved the allegory found in the pictures above.  We will never be perfect and while we are on earth people will never see a perfect reflection of Christ in us.  However, everyday is to be spent trying to become more and more like Jesus.  Those times where we seem to be at the end of our rope are usually the times where we learn incredible lessons such as leaning on Him rather than on ourselves.  Those boiling times can be so painful spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally, but when we look back on those times, we can see God's hand at work refining us and as we bring those impurities before His feet, He cleanses us so that we can reflect Him better.