May 25 - A Golden Furnace

May 25 - A Golden Furnace - 2 Timothy 2:14-21

Diane says:
The most difficult thing in the world to control is my mouth. It seems as if I'm not the only one. Arguing over words is something Paul warns about, but I never seem to listen. Theologians have been arguing about words for centuries and Paul is correct, it simply messes with the listener. But, the Word of Truth can be wielded as a tool for God.

Poor Hymenaeus. He shows up again as a model for terrible behavior. Not only did he wander away from the truth, but he is caught up in spreading false teaching. This false teaching is hurting others. But, listen to Paul's assurance. God is above all of this. He knows who belong to Him. God is the solid foundation and no amount of chatter whether it be true or false from us will shake that foundation.

Paul's analogy in 2 Timothy 2:20-21 describes how we can be used based on what we do with our mouth. Will we use it for noble purposes? Will we cleanse ourself so that we can be made holy, useful and prepared to do any good work?

Rebecca says:
I have sort of a wicked fascination with fire. It started in girl’s camp. I loved to sit by the campfire at night and watch marshmallows drip off the sticks and melt into a gooey mess. Back in those days I was unaware of Al Gore, or global warming, so every Styrofoam cup I drank from was thrown into the fire because I loved watching it shrink against the flame. I was always finding little bits of this and that because I liked to see how different things seemed to react to the fire.

Now before anyone calls Pyromaniacs Anonymous on me, please know this was always in a nice little circle pit and though I have a wicked fascination with fire, I also have a very deep reverential respect for it, because on more than one occasion I have been licked by a flame or two and it hurts!!

I thought of fire today as I read this section of 2nd Timothy and went on a hunt to find the verse that talk about God’s Word as a fire. I finally found it in Jeremiah 23: 29 "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”

I love that verse because it is so true. God’s word is a fire and a hammer that breaks rocks into pieces. It has destroyed certain aspects, thoughts, misconceptions and beliefs that I held onto at times and on more than one occasion I looked around to discover I was sitting in a big pile of ash, and with time, beauty rose from it.

The thing with fire is that people think of it as destructive but in many cases it is actually really good. Farmers burn fields after a few years of crops in order to enrich the soil. Forests once destroyed enjoy a resurgence of beauty and become better than before. God and fire are great purifiers in many ways and I am grateful for that because after the smoke clears what remains always seems to be the strongest and best parts of me.

It amazes me to think that we are walking infernos, small little coal stoves with orange glowing embers inside because of Him. And just like those campfires, all it takes is a whoosh of breath from the Holy Spirit and we are lit on fire and breathe out the word of God that sets souls on fire with His love. You’ve had those moments haven’t you? When you open your mouth and out come words, comfort, or prayers that are absolutely not of your own making. They are filled with wisdom and love and speak with such passion and effectiveness you know they can only be of Him, because they are that fire He is speaking of in Jeremiah.

Paul was no little coal stove, he was a disco inferno! His mouth was a glowing ember filled with fire and it is why he was as effective as he was in spreading the gospel. But in order to contain such a fire he had to work very hard to make his life a vessel capable of holding such a flame.

There is a reason that ovens and stoves and fireplaces are made of metal and not wood or clay. Could you imagine the charred mess a stove made of clay could be? If that clay was baked it could probably hold flame to a certain temperature but with limitations and if it was just the moldable kind it couldn’t even hold a match. And a stove made of wood seems a bit moronic don’t you think? Wood is a catalyst for flame; it could not contain or hold the fire but instead would just go up in smoke with it and probably burn really hot and hard but then result in nothing more than a pile of ash.

But how much heat could a fire of gold or silver hold? How hot could that flame get? The beauty with gold and silver is that heat only refines them, flame burns off impurities so the hotter it gets the more pure it becomes. Paul was a golden fireplace of a man. He knew that if Timothy just stayed a little lob of clay, he could not hold that fire in him for any period of time, and if he became hardened like wood that fire would not only be uncontainable but burn out, turn to ash and destroy him for good.

But what if Timothy or you or I could follow Paul's lead? What if we could strive to refine this life of ours to such a degree that it was golden? What if we willingly went into those dark places of our lives and extricated that silver or mined that gold and allowed our life to become golden fireplaces for God. What kind of noble purposes could He use us for?

Gold is precious because it stands the test of time. We value it because it is a soft metal so it is easy to forge but incredibly strong. The fire of God will never break a golden furnace but only reshape it into whatever form He has in mind.

I’d like to believe this life of mine is golden, but I know I have a bit of kindling still in my soul. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all follow Paul’s lead and become the kind of vessel that could hold and breathe and warm those around us with the words of God that are the flame in our soul? That is the kind of global warming I don’t think even Al Gore would mind!