Here is the text of the letter I sent:
Dear Name,
I know most months I send a letter about a man or woman of faith and the story of their life in God. But this month I have another story to tell. In September, I was able to go to a women's conference at my church. Really, "conference" just means that I was able to sit in some classes and learn from other women about the Bible. One woman taught about honoring God and she taught us some about silversmiths. I found it really interesting and wanted to share what I learned with you.
First of all, let me share the verse from Zechariah 13:9, "This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” This verse talks about how God purifies His people!
Notice how God says he will refine us like silver….now let me share what I learned about how silversmiths work. Silversmiths put the silver in the hottest spot of the fire and can never take their eyes off the silver, because if they keep it in the fire too long, it will be ruined. But they have to keep it in the hottest spot to get the impurities out. So the silversmith will watch the silver constantly and the smith knows the silver is done when he can see his image in it (his reflection). (I included a picture of a silversmith working on some jewelry.)
I think this is a beautiful picture of how God is working in us! Sometimes when we go through trials, we can be upset and think God isn't there. But sometimes He needs to put is in the hottest spot of the fire, the hardest trails, to get the impurities out of us. And God is working on us so that we will reflect His image, just like the silversmith waits until the silver reflects his face, so God is doing to us, like it says in 1 John 3:2, "But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
I was encouraged learning about this and thought I would share it with you, my friend! Have you ever learned about the Bible through an illustration like this? I would love to hear what you learned!
We are doing well and hope you and your family are well. Juanito recently began AWANA at church and he is so excited to learn Bible verses for is class. AWANA is a group that teaches the Bible to kids of all ages.
We send our love!
Hannah
Feel free to copy and paste this letter to your kids also!
