All scrubbed up

 The book of Malachi reminds me a bit of Job which also uses a question and answer method. But of course, Malachi also has some wonderful promises.

Here's one: "I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the Lord Almighty. (Mal. 3:1, NIV)

Then follows some doubt about the outcome of this promise: 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. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. (Mal. 3: 2-3)

In the April 2013 copy of The Christian Science Journal, Doug Brown wrote about the significance of this passage for him, showing that, as he says: "The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy ... are as contemporary today as when they were written."

Upon reading about refining and purifying, which he likens to both baptism and unfoldment of truth, Mr. Brown writes that "the purification of thought called "baptism" ... is ... overturning and purifying every aspect of our human experience--our hopes, our desires. And this truth is current. What seems new is the unfoldment of what always has been and always will be."

He continues: "I could see for the first time that this presence of divine Truth is active in consciousness, today, this very moment, right where we are... The moment I realized "I AM" as the power that motivates, my point of view changed from observer to participator, from being on the outside looking up to God, to looking out from God."

Just as the refiner's fire burns the dross from silver and gold, and the fuller's soap removes the impurities from wool, so "[w]hen we place God first and let Him precede us in every aspect of our lives, we begin to see dramatic changes ... We develop a sense of stability and dependability. We stop reacting. We end the war with a false sense of self. We stop judging, taking offence, insisting on having things our way." ("The Immediacy of Truth" by Doug Brown, CS Journal April 2013). 

It makes one feel all scrubbed up just thinking about this promise from Malachi doesn't it?

Julie Swannell