Day 4: The Softened Hearts

"The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts." Proverbs 17:3

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Getting children to eat their vegetables may be one of the hardest ministries to endure. Maybe your child is different and loves vegetables, but most children hate them or won't even give them a try. I was always told growing up that vegetables would make me stronger, and (as I'm sure all children growing up) I never believed it. I thought "How could something so small, so green and so bland help me get stronger?" Aside from the Popeyes cartoons that displayed strength through one can of spinach, vegetables didn't have any kind of appeal. Now that I have a child of my own, I understand the necessity and struggle of this ministry.

All things in life are tried. It's when it's not tried that you don't see it's full potential. When we "try gold" we are not putting it into our mouth to see if it's good to eat or not. To try gold means to smooth it out or to test the efficiency of the material. When we try gold, it doesn't just simply melt into liquid, but it can be molded and shaped into something useable or valuable. Wedding rings are made out of this yellowy substance. Gold coins are worth a lot of money. Gold bars hold much in quality. But if you really boil it down, this element is simply, well... just that... it's an element.

What we consider to be valuable (ie. Gold) God paves His streets with. God see's value in something far greater than gold, and He spends much time in trying it so that it becomes putty for Him to mold and make into something valuable. It's your heart. It's easy to allow our hearts to be hardened by the world and by other "Christians" who leave a sour view of what Christianity is suppose to be. But God wants your heart! He wants to mold your heart! (Hebrews 3:8-15)

Today, start by allowing God to soften your heart for His use. He wants to mold it into something precious and valuable. "But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." Isaiah 64:8