Mining Silver

I was thinking about silver the other day when I saw the beautiful silver edge on the clouds.  God’s creation captures my imagination more than anything else.  So I decided it would be fun to talk about silver, and what the Bible has to say about it.

Through the ages silver has been used for many things including coins, jewelry, mirrors and medicine and electronics.  Silver is a bit pricy these days – not as costly as gold, but if you own a bunch of silver you’ve made a good investment. 

There are references to silver in the Bible - from Genesis through Revelation.  Genesis starts out by telling us that Abram had it in abundance and that people were using silver as money, even when Joseph was in Egypt. See Genesis 42:25.

And later silver was used in the tabernacle and in the temple. 

Silver when used generously is something good and when it is used to glorify God it pleases Him.  But as costly and beautiful as silver is, David tells us that God’s laws (instructions) are more precious than silver and gold.  He says, “The law from your mouth (God) is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.” Psalm 119:72

And Godly wisdom, we are told, is more profitable than silver.  Solomon, the wisest King wrote in Proverbs 3:13-14 

Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she (WISDOM) is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.

Silver, can be used in an evil way.  The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil.  When we use silver in a way that does not please God it can become tarnished – maybe you remember polishing the silverware when you were young.  There was that black stuff that came off on the polishing cloth.  Our lives can become tarnished and unlovely, but with the work of the Holy Spirit they can be made as bright as a freshly polished silver spoon.

1 John 1:7 tells us, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

 An interesting way that the Bible used Silver is by comparing the person who is lost with a missing silver coin in Luke 15.  

"Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one.  Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and sys, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

What a touching view of our God – comparing himself to a women who sweeps her house and searches diligently to find her lost coin.  God searches for us and then there is rejoicing in heaven when we repent.

The Bible has a lot to say about silver, about how we use it, God warns us about its misuse.  He compares it with wisdom and his law, and he uses it as a symbol of a lost sinner.

I wonder if God thinks it’s as beautiful as we do?  Some of the most beautiful silver is found in things that God made for our enjoyment. 

The dew on the flowers shines like silver in the morning light. 

When you look at the silvery moon, do you see God’s hand molding it? 

When you see the silver lining on a cloud, do you think of Christ’s coming return - on the clouds – I do.

And some of the most beautiful silver I see is on the heads of the people I see around me.  Silver in a person’s hair is a sign of wisdom and remember that God knows the count of the hairs on the heads of his people. 

Proverbs 16:31 tell us that, “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness.”

Proverbs 20:29 says that, “The glory of young men is their strength, and gray hair the splendor of the old.

Here’s a little poem I wrote for my friends with silver hair. 

Silver - God’s handiwork!  God’s gifts to us.

The daylight fades as the clock unwinds

and the moon paints the night with a silvery hue. 

Then the sun awakes

and dips the leaves

of flowers and trees with silvery dew.

Silver silhouettes the cottony clouds,

as it streaks through the sky, cutting heaven in two,

and you hold your breath,

as you watch and learn

that the silver shows God’s love for you.

Then you pass by a mirror and you smile hello,

the face in the silver-backed mirror smiles too.  

It shows the years

and the silvery hair,

a crown of respect God has given to you.

In God’s world, in His children, the moon and the dew,

the silver God mines shows He cares about you.

It’s a blessing, a wonder, and a gift from God’s hand

like a goblet of silver or a bright wedding band.

God gives to His children extravagantly,

these gifts full of love, abundant and free.

Diane Gruchow October 2012