The story goes: A young man happened upon a silversmith who refined silver and gold from raw materials, sitting in front of his fire, "Why do you heat the metal?" he asked? The Refiner answered, "In order to make precious silver I have to remove all the impurities that make it worth less than it really is." The young man thought about his own life and how one time of fiery suffering or another was required to remove some of the 'junk' in his own life. "Why do you sit while you work?" inquired the young man? The Refiner replied, "I have to watch the fire closely. Too little heat and impurities will not be removed; too much heat and the precious metal will be destroyed and made worthless." The young man reflected how his life of comfort had brought a sense of complacency that led him to abandon his dreams, settling instead for a humdrum life. But he had also come through painful fiery times with character and strength that he would not have found elsewhere. Then the young man asked the Refiner, "How do you know when the silver is at the right temperature?" The Refiner smiled and answered, "I know the purifying is complete when I can see my reflection in the silver." The young man marveled at the answer thinking, "That is true in my life. My own fiery trials were only complete when My Refiner's image could be seen in me."

Paul began the church at Corinth, then left as he continued on his missionary journeys. When he left, others swept in, some even calling into question the authority and the credibility of Paul, himself. He responds in 2 Corinthians 3:1-3, "Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart." Corinth was sin city, similar to Las Vegas. The transformed lives of these carnal individuals were Paul's letters as their changed behavior and lives reflected not only their teacher, Paul, but more importantly, Christ, Himself. Paul writes in 3:18, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." Man was originally created in the image of God. But when Adam sinned and as sin entered into the world, that perfect image was distorted. It is God's desire to restore us back into His image as we fasten our eyes and look at the glory of Jesus. He goes on in 4:6, "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Through trials and by abiding in Him, we become vessels to reflect His light to a fallen world.

If we step back for a moment and consider what God has done in us it should cause us to pause and praise Him all the more. When there is something of value, for instance the crown jewels in the Tower of London, it is placed behind burglar proof glass, with guards posted to protect it. But God has placed something of greater value, the Holy Spirit in our corrupt bodies, which are prone to fail. Our light is a reflection of His light, not from us, similar to how the moon merely reflects the light from the sun. But if the world gets in the way of him, like in a lunar eclipse when the earth gets in the way of the sun, it will eclipse this light. Because of our fallen nature, when we shine for him, it is that much more beautiful and unexpected from the world. When we deflect from ourselves and truly reflect Him, realizing we are nothing special, but simply clay in the Potter's hand, or silver in the Refiner's fire, we don't have to try to act righteous, for what is reflected is the light of Jesus Christ within us. We can only reflect Him if we choose to spend time with Him: in His Word, in worship, in prayer, in fellowship, etc.