“Prepare For The Coming Of The Day Of The LORD!”

“Prepare For The Coming Of The Day Of The LORD!”(Zeph.1:7-18).
It’s another day in which grace has found us. Thank you LORD!
Prophet Zephaniah was a contemporary of prophets Jeremiah and Nahum. Zephaniah’s main theme is The coming of the day of the LORD when God will severely punish the apostasy of his people.
Out of a very rich text I want to focus on the sin of complacency. The tortoise watching near a tree saw a hunter taking aim at a monkey that was sitting up the tree. The tortoise saw a snail crawling up the tree and was getting closer to the monkey The tortoise told the snail to warn the monkey that his life was in danger. The snail told the tortoise that if the hunter wants to shoot the monkey it was none of their business. So saying, the snail refused to warn the monkey. The hunter shot the monkey and as the dead monkey tumbled down, it swept the snail off the tree and they both landed where the tortoise was. The hunter approached to pick the monkey. He saw and picked both the snail and tortoise as well. He put them in his bag. On his way home the tortoise told the snail, “When I told you to warn the monkey you said it was none of our business. Now that we are all in the hunter’s bag, is it still none of our business?”
The snail is a good example of a complacent person. A complacent person often feels a sense of security and satisfaction which is based on an inaccurate self evaluation.
The prophet Zephaniah says the complacent person has that false self estimation, propelled by an inflated ego. He thinks “The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.” The security and satisfaction the complacent person has is based on the wealth with which he surrounds himself. What he doesn’t know is that his wealth will be plundered and his houses demolished. He will build houses but not live in them, and plant vineyards but not drink the wine.
However, God’s punishment is not like a raging angry sea that does not abate. Rather, God’s wrath is like a raging storm which is followed by peaceful and calm waters. There is a time of restoration to be enjoyed by those whom the LORD consecrated at the time of the great invite (Zeph.3:10ff).
All through this season we will daily remind for us to prepare for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ so that we can prepare and be counted among the consecrated of the LORD who will receive letters of the great invite.
All in all, let us be one another’s keeper! Let us not play the snail and be complacent. Rather, let us listen to the tortoise and warn the monkey so that we do not all end in the hunter’s bag!
Prayer: Holy Spirit help me daily to make myself ready for the day of the LORD. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.