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Friday!
Proverbs!
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, 
so a person is tested by being praised.
Proverbs 27:21 NRSV
Since when is being praised a test?
Gold is heated in a furnace, for the purpose of removing impurities,  and heated to turn it into liquid so it can be shaped into something else (like a gold coin or ring).
The crucible is where silver is melted so it can be reshaped.
And this proverb compares that process to being praised. 
So how does praise heat things up for us?
How does the praise of others re-shape us?
Is that a good thing?
We praise people for performance (ever been to a concert, or just watch the Olympics).
If Proverbs is about the heart, what is the purifying work, the heating and reshaping that goes on in my heart from praise? 
(This is the only time this Hebrew word appears in the Bible btw).
If I'm only ever praised for my performance then that can become how I see "me", my identity. And if my performance ever slips, then my value goes with it. 
This Proverb isn't making rules about praising or not, but asking us to think about the impact of praise in us, and in others. Praise shapes things, perhaps shows up the thing that really in our hearts?
Maybe this Proverb makes us a little uncomfortable, maybe you feel like challenging the author, and that's OK. 
Praise tests and shapes us. What does that mean in my walk with God?
#proverbs
#wisdom
#somethingtochewon
#itsaheartthing

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