Gold Tried in the Fire

Gold, tried in the fire – what is it and how do we obtain it?

Have you ever had fleas? If not, you have missed an experience. If so, you will understand my message today.

Fleas come out of the air, apparently; they bite, jump, and generally make themselves a nuisance. They make mosquitoes seem nice by comparison. They crawl on your skin. They are a fair comparison to sin. They hide in the folds of your clothing, and then bite at night. The only pleasure they afford is when you find them and destroy them.

They are hard to catch, though; and when you do find one, you must hang on to it, preferably with a wet finger. Then roll it between your thumb and forefinger until it is incapacitated. But don’t think he is dead! Not until he is crushed will he cease to revive and bite again! Like David with Goliath, the stone only knocked the giant out; the sword must be used to destroy completely.

And so it is with sin. We may think we have killed it by rolling it in our fingers, but until it is crushed to blood by the sword, it will rise to bite again.

Pilgrims on! The day is dawning! Strike your tents, and homeward haste; sleep not while the blush of morning, calls you on the desert waste. Though the way be dark and dreary, life’s sharp anguish must be borne; courage then, ye faint and weary, linger not to weep and mourn. Pilgrims on! The storm is beating, beating wildly on your way; tarry not, the time is fleeting, shall the storm your footsteps stay? Hasten on, through joy and sorrow, or whatever may betide. Wait not for the calm tomorrow, faithful at your work abide. Pilgrims on! What though in dangers, life’s eventful course pursue; labour on, ye friendless strangers, grace will guide you safely through. What if trials must befall you! What if fierce temptations rise! Shall earth’s bitter strife appall you while contending for the prize? Pilgrims on! There’s rest in heaven, rest from every anxious care; rest in Jesus’ smiles, forgiven, peaceful and eternal there. O, “twere sweet to toil in sadness, O, “twere well the cross to bear. If, at last in joy and gladness, we may rest eternal there!

Tried in the fire? Don’t think an infestation of fleas is a light matter. On top of weariness, pain, fear, sorrow, grief, and mundane troubles, they add their share of burning. (With joy and gladness. Don’t think life is all hardship and suffering).
I thank God for His precious promises, that our sorrows do not spring out of the ground. “Our Father does not willingly afflict the children of men.” “Our light affliction, which is but a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

Another thing about fleas, often they have to come to you, searching is time consuming and sometimes fruitless. But when one comes out into the open, out of your hair onto your forehead, take it. So by continually looking for sin–ourselves or some else’s “we waste time, energy, and good temper, and rarely accomplish any good. but when sin comes out into the open, then is the time to deal decisively with it.

Another thing about fleas, don’t worry about them. Forget them until they become unforgettable. Also “you may still feel the pain and itch of the bite long after the flea has died”it is not sin, just the aftereffects of it.
Pilgrims on! The day is dawning: strike your tents and homeward haste!

Kathleen Ross, Alberta, Canada

“If you would find happiness and peace in all you do, you must do everything in reference to the glory of God. If you would have peace in your hearts, you must seek earnestly to imitate the life of Christ” “You will have a serenity and happiness in rightdoing that you can never realize in a course of wrong.” Youth Instructor, September, 1873