Alan Fong
3 min read
Alan Fong
3 min read
Alan Fong
3 min read
Diminished Value
Today's Verse:
Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them. ~Jeremiah 6:30
Silver is a precious metal used as currency and in many worthwhile applications. For years, silver was used as filling for teeth. It is popular as jewelry. It is used for utensils. As a currency commodity, it is frequently tested to be sure that it is genuine and not a sham. In our text this morning, God called His people, the Jews, “reprobate silver.” It was a very strong and demeaning way of describing how the people of God lost their value and were rejected by Him. Reprobate silver describes a testimony that had great usefulness and now has become weakened and rejected.
We see the impeccable power.
“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). A good testimony is a Christian life that is blameless, harmless, and without rebuke. It is a life that is separated, sanctified, and set apart for God’s glory. It majors on having a good reputation. It delights itself in shining brightly in the midst of a dark and sinful world. A good testimony represents the Lord Jesus Christ well in society. It points men and women to a saving knowledge of our Lord.
We see an infested pollution.
A good testimony can be ruined quickly. It can be ruined by allowing little sins to fester and become repeated and controlling sins. It can be ruined by wrong priorities and influences that are corrupting and contaminating. It is ruined by having wrong associations and friendships. It becomes a ruined testimony when hardness of heart and an unrepentant attitude set in. It is ruined when we compromise in our stand against sin, worldliness, and social sins. Be careful of the little foxes that spoil the vine! Beware of the little leaven that leaven the whole lump. Your testimony must be guarded and protected at all costs against being polluted.
We see the inflicted punishment.
Reprobate silver is rejected silver. The Lord specifically said that Judah was reprobate silver that He had rejected. This infers that fellowship has been broken. It infers that there is unconfessed sin. It infers that the person with a ruined testimony does not have any shame concerning his sinful condition and is not doing anything quickly to make amends with God. To be rejected means you are cast out and Ichabod is written against you. To be rejected means you are not welcome or even wanted back anytime soon.
We see the imperative purging.
What do we do with a testimony that is ruined because of a sinful lifestyle? God must chasten and purge the life that is living in sin and is unrepentant. Silver must go through intense fire in a furnace in order for all impurities to be burned away. God must inflict a fiery trial in the life of an erring child in order to bring this one back to the Lord. Chastening is God’s means for purging us. Only then can that man become useful again as a servant of God.
Don’t be careless with your life and testimony. Keep your testimony upright, holy, and shining before a lost and dying world. Be careful that you do not allow your life to crumble and fall into sin. Keep growing in the Lord, and be a flashlight that illumines the path of your life.
Have a holy God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: 2 Chronicles 13-17
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