Proverbs Chapter 25

Proverbs 25:4 (ESV) "Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;"

Silver is and has always been considered a precious metal. In 2007 over 1200 metric tons of silver were mined in some 36 active silver mines in the United States. Silver is valuable but in it’s raw form it is not very useful. It must be refined to remove the impurities. Once silver is refined it becomes both valuable and useful. "Take away the dross or impurities from the silver and the refiner or silversmith has material he can use."

In the Scriptures there are several instances of refining process of silver as it relates to the Christian life. Consider Malachi 3:3 (ESV) "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.", and Psalms 66:10 (ESV) "For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried." God wants us to be pure silver. He wants us to be both valuable and useful vessels.

Pure silver has a number of very interesting properties. As you read these and consider the above verses you may see some unique and interesting parallels between this precious metal and the pure Christian life. Silver has the highest degree of electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals. A lot of silver is used in printed electrical circuits and computer keyboards. Because of it’s superior conductivity it is used in many high-end audio hard-ware where it is believed to cause the least loss of quality in the signal. Because of it’s high degree of reflectivity it is used as a mirror coating in very specialized optics. Silver is known to be naturally antibiotic and antimicrobial. It has been and still is used in medicine to kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi. In times past it was often used to help preserve freshness in certain food products. Silver is even used in certain kinds of cloth to produce clothing that resists the growth of bacteria and fungi in hot, humid climates.

Silver is an amazing element. In it’s purest form it has a number of uses and the more pure it is the more useful it is. Unfortunately for the silver and for the Christian, the refining process can be long, complicated and even painful. The have been many processes invented for the refining of silver but they all have at least one thing in common. All of them use extreme heat at some point in the process. God wants us as His people to be pure, refined silver. And this process requires heat. The heat of trials and struggles in which we find ourselves are not accidents. They are all part of the refining fire God is using in our lives to make us more and more pure. We are certainly valuable to God but in the continual refining process we become useful vessels. We can be highly conductive as we share the light of His Good News to a dark and cold world. We can be the shiny mirror that reflects His image to those in need. We can be a medicine and a preservative for a sick world by rejecting the sinful ways that tend to creep into our society.

As hard as the refining process is, find encouragement in it. The Refiner loves you. You are so valuable to Him that He paid the ultimate price to "mine" you. Now He wants to refine you. He is "taking away the dross so He will have material fit for His use."