Once, I used to have a poor self-esteem that made me quite withdrawn. I was my best friend, my gossip mate, my everything. Outside, I was sizzling, but inside, I was dwindling. If you’ve been there, you’d agree it’s not a place anyone would want to be. So I sought for a way out. Solution. Get busy. And men, did I get busy! But getting busy didn’t quench the distorted view I had of myself. Something else did. Discovering purpose. We’re not talking of Purpose today, but of the way people coat their potsherd.
A potsherd is a piece of ceramics from pottery which is often found at archeological sites. In other words, a potsherd is an old excavated piece of article. Often, if this piece of artwork is reckoned as valuable, it is coated to renew it and make it fit for use. The scripture said, “Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.” That’s worth pondering over.
The potsherd was likened to as a burning lip. A scathing lip. A sharp tongue. A caustic tongue. This potsherd represents the defect the old nature imputed on us, the consequence of the old man. Just like my poor self-esteem. However, the article being a potsherd was not much of the problem. The problem was from the material used to coat it. A silver dross.
Silver dross is the impurity that must be removed before pure silver is gotten (Prov 25:4-5). It’s a waste product. And it was this waste product that was used to coat the potsherd. It gave the appearance of glittering silver but it was dross. It looked like it solved the problem, but it only expressed the fault all the more. The burning lip was the nadir of the problem. The major fault was that it was coated with a wicked heart, and that only served to bring out the ugly in the equation. It may look like the main deal, but it’s just dross.
How often have you, in the bid to overcome a product of the fallen man, a besetting sin maybe, used dross to coat that potsherd. In my case, I employed the act of being busy – getting results make me happy, and made others happy with me. So that was my formula for escaping low self-esteem. But that was dross. Not until I accessed the light of my God-given purpose. So, say you are of a quick temper. Have you used the dross of avoiding people to sheath that potsherd rather than the silver of a quiet and gentle spirit from the Lord? Or maybe, you are of loose lips, have you used the dross of keeping mum to clothe yourself rather than the silver of self-control (a fruit of the Spirit) and constructive speech? Have you rather than galvanize yourself with silver, parched up yourself with dross? Why settle for a fake when the real is accessible? This is a call to discover those areas of weakness and seek the Lord to trade beauty for your ashes.
STAY BLESSED
Proverbs 26:23
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True! many attimes instead of submitting to God’s pruning, we think in being isolated it solves our problem rather. This is awesome and it blessed my life. God bless you dear.