Monday 22nd April
Read Zephaniah 2:1-3
“Gather together, gather yourselves together,
you shameful nation,
2 before the decree takes effect
and that day passes like windblown chaff,
before the Lord’s fierce anger
comes upon you,
before the day of the Lord’s wrath
comes upon you.
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the Lord’s anger.” (NIVUK)
Do you consider yourself to be nothing special? As we consider Zephaniah’s message we see there are two ways to be ‘nothing special’. The first is to be completely indistinguishable from those around you. Zephaniah calls Judah to gather together, ‘shameful nation’, using the specific word that describes the pagan nations that surround them. God’s people are quite literally ‘nothing special’ They are indistinguishable. This is not the best way to be ‘nothing special’. We can’t claim allegiance to Jesus and yet those around us would never be able to tell. To be so like the world in tastes and behaviour and attitudes is rather dangerous.
The second way to be ‘nothing special’ is outlined at the end of the passage. A minority of those within the nation are truly humble, they find their identity in the Lord, obey Him and seek His righteousness. They are precisely the right kind of ‘nothing special’. They are those who Paul describes as those who are like Jesus. They ‘do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.’ (Philippians 2:3-4) (NIVUK)
Which kind of ‘nothing special’ are you?
