Today, in a medical center, I watched as a nurse carefully prepared a patient for a surgical procedure. A number of key steps were taken in advance to insure that the procedure was successful, which it was. Essentially, questions about medical history, multiple diagnostic tests, a last minute ECG, and cleaning of the surgical site were all conducted to make sure the patient was completely ready for the surgery. All the preparation was appropriate.
As I watched, I thought about this week’s lesson topic, Worship Appropriately, based on Malachi 2:17-4:6. Just as the medical professionals worked to appropriately prepare the patient for surgery, Malachi described how Messiah would cleanse the Jewish people to worship the LORD with righteousness, which is entirely appropriate.
The Lord’s refinement was like cleansing lye, which was used in Old Testament purification rites. When I was a kid, my dad would clean the tarnish off coins using a paste he made from scratch. Unfortunately, I don’t know the recipe. Otherwise, turning a dirty penny into a shinny one might be a cool illustration of cleansing.
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3 comments:
I found the following link that talks about cleaning pennies of their copper oxide coatings (as well as some other cool stuff to do with that). It is just 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt in a glass or plastic bowl.
Does sound like a good example.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/copper_caper.html
Hot sauce (Texas Pete) will clean a penny too.
Doug, that's a nice link. Might smell better to use orange juice or lemon juice in place of the vinegar?
Clean pennies with hot sauce? Pass me the chips please...
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