Purified part 2
When I think of something being purified, I immediately go to the picture of gold. Of all the imperfections being burned out of it until it is, well, pure. But notice that we started with something precious. Being purified does not mean going from something less than to something more than. Being purified means letting what's real shine forth because everything else is burned away. Let's look at that familiar story in the book of Daniel to draw this picture even a little bit more clearly. I'm going to quote quite a little bit of it, but I want to use this for the main idea of this Rant series the next couple of days, so it should be ok. "And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came new to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them" (Daniel 3:23-27). One of my favorite stories as a kid. Because it had some action in it that even a kid could understand. Thrown into the fire, but not burned up. Pretty cool stuff. And then, as I got older it got even better. The Son of God right there in the midst with them. The only thing the fire touched were their bonds. They were in bondage until the fire burned it away. And they came out smelling like roses. Because the purification process--while sometimes it can feel uncomfortable, or even painful... especially when we are unwilling to let go of some of that stuff that we don't need--is just God redecorating His house. Getting rid of the junk. The stuff that doesn't fit anymore. Stuff we thought we needed, or stuff we thought we wanted, that was doing more harm than good. And then what is left is what needed to be there--what WAS there, underneath it all--in the first place. See, I always say the problem is not us having stuff. The problem is stuff having us. Like that rich young ruler who was unwilling to sell what he had in order to give to the poor. When your stuff is more important than people... that's a problem. That's the kind of attitude that needs to be purified. That's when we need to be transformed (into what we've already been transformed into) by the renewing of our mind. By spending some time in the fire, if I can say it that way. And just so we're completely 100% clear, "...our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29). Of course Jesus was in the fire. He IS the fire. LOVE is the fire that purifies us. Love is how God got rid of all those imperfections. He filled us up with Himself, with His love, until there wasn't room for anything else. He gave us HIS heart. The pure heart that beats with love!