Advent December 5th
Dross removal, wonder, love and praise.1 How can these disparate components all be part of Advent? Removing dross requires not just examination but expulsion. I have joked that I missed my calling as a professional laundress. I have gotten stains out of clothes that seemed impossible. But there’s no chance of terrible stains just magically disappearing. They need to be identified and addressed. It’s true of dross as well. The sin in our lives, including the time we waste, can be characterized as dross. Jesus lovingly identifies and expels such dross through His refining fire.
Yet, the more we become aware of the magnitude of all that we’ve been forgiven, of all that the fire has removed from us, the more we are able to be sincere in our wonder, love and praise.
“But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.” Malachi 3:2
Without Jesus, none of us could stand. May we sing with wonder, love and praise because He provides the soap and the fire, and in a crazy twist God sees only the righteousness of Christ when He looks at believers. If that doesn’t fill us with wonder, love and praise, what could?
Digging Deeper:
How has the dross of your life been removed? In the moment does it feel loving or painful? In retrospect, can you see God’s loving protection in the process?
Does awareness of what you’ve been forgiven deepen your love for God?
These are the main points from December 5th in Making Room for the Light (wonder, love and praise) and the C.S. Lewis Institute’s Advent series based on Messiah (dross removal).