Thought for the Day

Removing dross from silver in order to form it into a precious vessel, is comparable to removing wicked administrators from positions of authority. Before silver can be fashioned into a beautiful vessel, it must be refined. When melted, the "impurities" surface and can be removed. A righteous king's administrators represent him throughout his kingdom. His rule will not be righteous until the wicked are removed. This is what will happen when Jesus returns to rule as the King of kings: the wicked will be removed from the earth and the righteous will remain: "The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth" (Proverbs 10:29-30).

"...Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour" (2 Timothy 2:19a, 20). God's people are likened to two kinds of vessels: gold and silver "vessels of honour" and wood and clay "vessels of dishonour." Gold and silver vessels are durable and beautiful. Clay vessels chip and shatter; wooden vessels warp in water and burn in fire; neither have the strength of gold and silver. God desires that we have a place among His vessels of honor. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21).

How we respond to life's trials determines what kind of vessel we become. Trials "heat up our circumstances" and bring hidden sins to the surface. "For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried" (Psalm 66:10). Each time we choose to obey God and put to death our old nature or resist the devil, a little more of the "dross" is removed, until we come forth as pure as silver or gold.

Following is a portion of Psalm 119. Its author, knowing that God will remove the wicked like dross, cried out to God to help him keep His commandments. He knew that he could not respect God without respecting His Word. May we be as wise: "Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies" (Psalm 119:117-119).