Today’s scripture: Psalm 139:23-24 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Sue Robinson):
Ah, Christmas! The hustle and bustle of finding the one perfect gift for that someone special. Many people give and receive gifts of gold jewelry at this time of year. I always thought, naively, that gold was mined from the hills in just the form that was used for this jewelry making. Not so!
The process of making gold into the form we know and love is an involved process. First it is heated to 1000 degrees Celsius until the waste, called dross, is separated and drops to the bottom. The remaining gold is then poured off of the top and is pure and refined.
These passages of scripture speak to me of God doing the same thing to me. “Search me, try me, lead me” sounds like God’s own refining process to take the dross of my life and turn it into gold—pure, costly, shiny clean! The process is at times painful. Oh, how I often wish this was unnecessary! But each refining makes me closer to living a life nearer to Jesus.
Verse 24 says, “See if there is any wicked way in me”. The unspoken prayer here is that if any wickedness is found, we might be willing to be refined to rid ourselves of the yucky stuff and be left with gold.
Thought for the day: Lord, please search our hearts at this season of the year and make us shine like gold in Your eyes!
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.