A vessel for the finer...

Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.      Proverbs 25:45

 

This past week I was cleaning out some cupboards and came across this dish that had been given to me by a very dear woman who was like a grandmother to me...actually, she was a grandmother to me!  The piece had become tarnished and was looking rather drab, so I purchased some Twinkle and began the task of trying to remove several layers, and years, of tarnish...or as the Bible calls it ~ dross.

 

As I started to apply the cleaning agent, it became clear that this was not going to be an easy task! After A LOT of cleaner, a lot of elbow grease, and several soft cloths, I started to see the beauty of the silver and something else...my reflection.

 

This reminded me of the above verse in Proverbs. As I scrubbed away the dross, I thought about the Lord removing the dross from my life.  I know there has been some that has not been too tough to remove and then some that was so deeply ensconced in the deep crevices of my soul that it took some meticulous attention to remove it.  Like the dross on my piece of silver, there have been layers upon layers of dulling agents like poor attitude, laziness, selfishness, or sin to remove from me.  I could envision the Lord scrubbing it away by apply some heavy pressure, just as I did.  I could also envision the Lord being as pleased as I was when He could finally glimpse His reflection in my life.  While I don't always enjoy the process of having Him remove that dross, I so look forward to being a vessel for the finer!

 

 

The finished product!