Confession and Glass Cleaner

The Karat Patch jewelry store in Big Spring, Texas is full of glass. For security reasons we only have one glass door and window. But inside the store there are display cases, wall units, and a sales counter made of glass. And not just glass but mirrors too. It's is a 'glass rich' environment. Every morning and most days around 1:00pm, we have to clean fingerprints and arm-prints off the glass. During busy times of the year, like the Christmas season, we clean the glass 3 or 4 times a day. It really is a constant job to keep the glass and mirrors clean. You can just imagine how things would be if we did not keep the glass clean: at some point one might not be able to see what's behind the glass at all.

I've often thought about all that work to keep the glass clean. We must keep the glass clean so that folks can see the beautiful jewelry inside those displays. When the glass isn't clean it distorts the beauty of things behind it.

Sometimes when I'm cleaning the glass, I think about how much we Christians are like that glass display. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we have the person of Jesus Christ inside of us. As humans, we sin. Sin is like those fingerprints and arm-prints on the glass in that it leaves something on our lives that distorts the view others have of what's on the inside.

We use a variety of products to keep our glass clean and even to prevent fingerprints. But there's only one way to clean away sin on our lives...confession. Scripture says (1John 1:9) when we confess our sin that Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us, and CLEANSE us from ALL unrighteousness. If we never confess our sin it's like that glass that never gets cleaned; it becomes very difficult to see the beauty of Jesus that lives within us. But when we confess our sin, we're like clean glass through which folks can see the beautiful things inside of us namely, the hope...the glory...the salvation...and the person of Jesus Christ.Confession and glass cleaner....things that make it possible to see the beauty within.

NEXT POST: Stars

Jewelry Casting and the Creator - Final Part

The Maintenance

When my customer wears their new creation out in the world, I want my work to be so outstanding that people take notice (Proverbs 16:3). The same should be true of our lives when we are made new by our Creator. When we have been made a new creature in Jesus Christ, and we take ourselves out into the world, our lives should reflect that something has changed. That ‘reflection’ should be that of Jesus. One of my bible teachers says that after we claim Jesus Christ as Savior, “we should be so full of life that when we walk by the produce department of the grocery store, even the lettuce should perk up!”
Customers always tell me that they get more compliments on their jewelry after they have come into The Karat Patch and gotten a good professional cleaning. The metal and the gems both shine and sparkle brightly. You know, the jewelry has been out there in the world and got dirty. This reminds me of what happens to our lives too. We have to be out there in the world and…well, we get dirty. But we can get a good cleaning if we come to Jesus and show Him our dirty lives (confession of sin) (1John 1:9). Jesus forgives us our sin, cleanses us from unrighteousness………makes our lives shiny and new…….a condition that ‘reflects’ the Creator. At The Karat Patch, we sell all kinds of products to maintain a beautiful appearance to your jewelry. But, Jesus has freely given us all kinds of things to maintain a beautiful appearance to our lives; The Bible, our Christian friends, prayer of confession and most importantly, His life and more pointedly, His cleansing blood.

I tell my customers that their jewelry should be kept clean and checked regularly. That’s good advice for our lives too.

After I have made something new out of something old and the customer is happy, they pay me and leave the store. My hope is that they are so happy with the transformation that they tell everyone who made it happen for them. And so it is with our transformation by the wonderful saving grace of Jesus Christ. Jesus too wants us to go out (Matthew 28:19) and share with every one we know the story of how it all happened, and how He can make that happen for them too. In the jewelry world and in the spiritual world, this is called “giving a testimonial”. It is the account to others of an impressive positive experience. The testimony is intended to instill in those who hear it a confidence that the work has been done by someone they can trust with their valued possession(s). In the jewelry world it is their precious metal and gems, in the spiritual world it is their precious LIFE.
If you have trusted me with your valuable possessions and have had a great experience at The Karat Patch, I hope you would speak well of me so that others know they can trust me too.
If you have trusted Jesus with your valuable life, I encourage you to tell others about your experience so that they will know they can trust Him as well, and that He can make something NEW…… from something old.

I hope that you have enjoyed this series and have learned something new about jewelry casting, and understand now why every time I go through the process I see Jesus.

And all God’s children SAID –Amen!

NEXT POST: Time and The God-Shaped Hole

Jewelry Casting and the Creator - Part Three

The Refiner’s Fire

(To review the key paragraph from Part Two: "The Process" click here )
“...impurities begin to surface from the liquid metal. It is at this point that all the impurities are removed with a pure quartz rod, or incinerated by the fire. In this liquid state the metal will actually follow the flame around the crucible as the impurities are being removed."
The closer the metal comes to being ready for casting into the new form, the more it follows the flame. The more Christ-like we become, the more we seek that thing that helps get us there. As impurities are removed from our lives, the more we want to become the likeness of Christ. The more we seek positive change, the more we seek to follow the flame that incinerates the impurities in our lives. The rod of pure quartz used to remove impurities from the metal reminds me of the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all unrighteousness. And the fire itself that brings impurities to the surface of the liquid metal reminds me of God’s Word, pure truth that shows us our sin and brings our impurities to the surface (Hebrews 4:12). In comparison, the likeness of Christ would be the absolute purest form of metal possible, and then some. If we seek Christ’s likeness, then we must constantly seek that “refiner’s fire” to remove all the impurities in our lives.

"When the impurities are gone and while the metal is still liquid, it takes on a “mirror finish”, indicating that it is time to activate the casting machine to move the liquid metal into the new form which is waiting at the open end of the crucible."
Now I don’t want anyone to be confused here. There’s an important statement to make in following this process. Often when a person falls under conviction, they think “I better get my life cleaned-up”. But only Jesus can do what Jesus can do. The Bible states that if we confess our sins that Jesus is faithful to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). That’s the process. I believe the purification process in our lives begins with the moment we begin confession of our sin. Then Jesus is faithful to forgive us of our sin within that same moment. In the casting process, this is the “mirror finish” state in which the jewelry caster determines the metal is ready to move from the crucible, to the new form inside the plaster flask. The “mirror finish” state is the time when the metal is ready to make the move to the new form. I really love this comparison: The “mirror finish” in the casting process is when the liquid metal reaches a state of condition in which the jewelry caster can see his image. Once we have confessed our sin and accepted Christ as our Savior, we reach that “mirror finish” in which the Creator sees His own Image. That image is the same form that is waiting to receive the now purified metal of our broken-down lives, and we are cast into a new creation.
Because of our decision to confess Jesus Christ as Lord, when the Father looks at us He doesn’t see our broken-down junk anymore, He sees His son who lives in us (Matthew 3:17).

“When the casting machine is activated, the liquid metal moves instantly into the waiting plaster flask which contains the new form for the metal."
When the metal begins to leave the crucible there’s only one way it can go to reach the point of new creation, just as Jesus said there is only one way to the Father (John 14:6). The metal gets there in an instant. The change in our lives with Christ is instantaneous when we accept Him as Savior and we become a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17) which is PERFECT in the eyes of the Heavenly Father. But our earthly lives can take j-u-u-u-st a bit longer to change.

NEXT POST: JEWELRY CASTING AND THE CREATOR - PART FOUR: THE NEW CREATION