[June 28]
I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. Revelation 3:18
WHENEVER a new trial is presented to the Christian,
if he will but call to mind this precept of the
Lord, it will stimulate courage, nerve to patient endurance,
and quicken to self-sacrifice.
"Gold tried
in the fire"!
How can it be tried without the crucible
and the flame?
How otherwise can the dross be
eliminated? There is no other way.
Wherefore,
"think it not strange"; let the fire burn; let the dross
be consumed; and see to it, beloved, that in the heat
of the flame you remove not the "living sacrifice" from
the altar.
Remember that the eye of the great Refiner
is upon you; and as the refiner of gold watches the
metal in the crucible to see his image reflected in it,
so the Lord, the great Refiner, has his eye upon you.
He is watching to see how the precious metal of your
character reflects his image.
Or, in plain language,
in every trial he watches to see what influences control
our actions, whether they be influences of present
advantage or worldly policy, or personal friendship, or
earthly loves—of husband or wife, or children, or
houses, or lands, or whether they be honor among men,
or love of ease, or love of peace at any cost; or whether,
on the other hand, we are controlled by the naked
principles of truth and righteousness; and whether we
will defend these principles with zeal and energy at any
cost of labor or suffering, or both, and so fight the good
fight of faith to the bitter end—even unto death. Z'96-44 R1944:5 (Hymn 93)