Purified as Gold – Malachi 3:3

And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.

Just as parents who love their children, discipline them, so our heavenly Father who loves us, His children, disciplines us.[1]  He sits over us as a refiner, purifying us, removing the dross that pollutes our souls, screening out the worthless and filthy, leaving an enduring faith more valuable than gold and silver.  He takes our hearts, encased in rock, corrupted by sin, and He washes them in the cleansing streams of His Word.  Having found them as hard as stone, He turns them into beating, feeling, living flesh, and having found them filthy and corrupt, He leaves them holy and blameless.[2]

Therefore, do not despise the discipline of the Lord.  Rather rejoice, listening to the voice of wisdom, welcoming the healing rod of correction, praising the Lord as He pours out His Spirit upon you and makes His Word known to you.[3]  Do not faint under His reprimand, which is for your good, and its sanctifying result will allow you to share in His holiness.[4]  Praise Him as He humbles you and allows you to experience various trials.  Do not fear deprivation as He teaches you to trust that He will fill and sustain you.  Instead of rebelling under His reproof, trust in His perfecting work, allowing His love to dwell within you, and receive the abundant life He offers.[5]  Rejoice, for though you may be suffering temporary afflictions, the Lord is refining you[6] to bring forth pure gold out of your regenerated heart.[7]

Our Father, who loves us and is jealous for our welfare, is not content for us to walk in the shadows, blinded by unholy and corrupting passions.  He cares too much to abandon us to darkness.  Therefore, He brings us into His marvelous light where our unscaled eyes will behold Him, and where our redeemed, renewed lives will proclaim His excellence.[8]  He purifies us, so we may be free from the worthless residue of sin to worship Him in spirit and in truth.[9]

Consider it all joy when the Lord corrects you.  Trust Him, anticipating the day when as one trained by the Father through discipline, you will shine in righteousness, with the proof of your faith resulting in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.[10]

[1] Proverbs 13:24

[2] Ezekiel 36:26

[3] Proverbs 1:23

[4] Hebrews 12:5-10

[5] Deuteronomy 8:3-10

[6] 1 Peter 1:6

[7] Matthew 12:35

[8] 1 Peter 2:9

[9] John 4:24

[10] Hebrews 12:11