Be Silent Before The Lord

Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. The LORD has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited. (Zephaniah 1:7)

This little nugget of scripture is in the middle of a huge swatch of verses that are really harsh-sounding. It's like hooray the day of the Lord is near but he will annihilate you all when He comes. Um, what?

But you know what there's this bit of hope in there. He has consecrated [set aside, mady holy] those whom he has chosen for the Kingdom. Now whether or not you believe in predestination, my idea is that anyone who has accepted Christ into their hearts is one who is consecrated. So don't worry, for the most part we're safe, if we believe. Also this is an Old Testament scriptrure, so I do believe the main point is to speak to the first occasion of Jesus.

But it is interesting to think of how this applies to our lives now, while we're waiting for Jesus to come again. Because we are, you know. So it is at this point that I wonder what will happen to us should Jesus decide to return during out lifetime? Again, I say for the most part we're safe, if we believe. In other words, yes we've got the Golden Ticket into Heaven. But there may be things about us the God wishes to perish (Selfishness, bitterness, gossiping, etc).

Now, I believe that we'd be very tempted, when Christ comes, to lift ourselves up to him. "Look Jesus, I tithe every week! I have never had an affair! I know I said something harsh to my wife, but I made it up to her."  And you know what, none of that matters. It's actually somewhat useless to represent ourselves to Christ, because He knows all about us, and He is actually the One who will represent us to God the Father. So this is where I realize the wisdom in the first part of this scripture: Be silent before the sovereign Lord.

There is nothing that we can do which will make us more prepared for salvation, because if we accept Christ into our lives we are already saved. And try as we may to live Christ-like lives, we will fall short. But God knows our hearts, so we are better off being still, and allowing the Holy Spirit to wash through us, to see us for who we are, and to allow Jesus to represent us based on His understanding of ourselves, not our own.

So don't feel as though you need to fight for your salvation. It is already bought and paid for. You just focus on living as much like Christ as possible, and He will do the rest. And be silent before the Lord, because you just might be amazed at the things He has to say.