- And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice – “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire” (v.8) I’ll be the first to say having/wearing things from other cultures is very cool! Yet, is this passage trying to tell us that God is going to punish us if we do? No, its opening up a much deeper message here. The idea of wearing “foreign attire” was not just for a fashion statement, this was for them to blend in with the foreign nations and to worship their foreign gods. This is exactly the opposite of what Paul spoke on of being “In the world but not of it.” We are supposed to be in the world, relating and connecting with it, but not diving into the sin that the world itself is in. So when God saw His people conforming to the culture rather than standing out and setting an example, it makes sense why He reacted the way He did. So do you feel God’s reaction is going to be when He sees His followers today conforming so much to the sin of the world rather than standing out and setting an example? Make sure you a part of the transformation of our culture rather than allowing the culture to be conforming you. Be in the culture, but use your story to help our culture be more Christ centered than sin centered. – Daily DEVO 79
- …those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom… Zephaniah 1:5 – No one can serve two masters. Something Jesus spoke in Matthew 6:24, something we also see played out here in our passage. The nation of Judah had been serving and worshiping idols. They were swearing allegiance to God yet swearing allegiance to the idols as well. They were living for God with a divided heart. We may be tempted to think if at least I’m partly serving God with my life then God should be happy. Scripture though is clear that God isn’t looking for a divided heart. Even the first two of the Ten Commandments are about us having no other gods in our life but Him. In our day, I highly doubt you have some golden figure in your house you offer sacrifices to, but what is dividing your heart? What could you say is pulling you away from a full out devotion to Jesus? Don’t let your story play out like Judah where our voices on Sunday swear allegiance to Jesus yet Monday to something else. God is good enough on His own to be what our entire life is devoted to pursuing. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1554
- Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. Zephaniah 1:7 – It would be impossible to write about Zephaniah and not speak on the “Day of the Lord.” This is a key theme of the book and especially in this chapter. That a day is coming where judgement on sin and disobedience will be had yet on that day blessing will fall on those who are faithful. This day should be one of deep fear for those who refuse to follow God and deep praise for those who do follow Him. For us, when the Lord will return and the “Day of the Lord” happens is something only the Father knows. While we don’t know the time or date on that, we do know some day each will have to given an account of what we have done in our life and the choice we have made. How that will all go down I don’t know, but I know for certain the question that will be answered that will determine whether this day is something to dread or look forward to is this…have you chosen to follow Jesus? How you answer that question will determine how this day will go for you. As we see in Zephaniah, the choice to not follow God leads to destruction and the same choice today will lead to the same end. Choose then this day whom you will follow for one day that choice will determine your eternity. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2105
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