Repent

October 29, 2020 
Zephaniah 1-3

Repent

Focus Verses
Zephaniah 2:1-3 “Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, undesirable nation, before the decree is issued, or the day passes like chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you! Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.”

Zephaniah is warning Judah to repent because they are going to be judged.  He is warning them about the day of the Lord… the rapture of God’s church.  Warning them that if they do, they may be able to be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger. 

We need to fall on our faces, repent, and seek that which we knew and know to be true from the beginning.  It says in Revelation 2:5, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent.”  Unless you repent.  Your lampstand can be removed from its place quickly if you do not “gather yourselves together” and repent.  Don’t delay.

How is our walk?  Is Jesus our everything?  Have we lost focus of our first love and fallen into seeking our own righteousness?  Isaiah states, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”  We see here in Isaiah and in today’s focus verses that the day will pass like the chaff.  Seeking our own righteousness can and will cost us dreadfully.

I have had several close friends pass away unexpectedly in the past few months.  We are warned many times to put our houses in order.  None of us are guaranteed tomorrow.  Tomorrow will be too late to humble yourself and repent if your time is up today. 

Prayer
Lord, help me gather myself and seek Your righteousness.  Help me to seek humility and do all that You command.  Help me to live my life in honor and submission to Your righteousness.  In Jesus’ Holy Name, Amen.