"Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.
Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger."
Zephaniah 2:2-3
These verses are powerful in advising us to seek the Lord. On the surface the whole anger part might seem like scare tactics, and perhaps in a way they are, but I think it is more the way you might get frightened when you see someone you love doing something very dangerous, and you are scared *for* them. Zephaniah saw a taste of the future Second Coming, like many other prophets had, and he pleads with all of us here to please prepare ourselves rather than choosing our own destruction.
Zephaniah asks us to seek three things here: the Lord, righteousness, and meekness. It's a powerful combination, and I think that there are specific things that we can do to heed Zephaniah's warning.
We seek the Lord through prayer, scripture study, and listening to the spirit.
We seek righteousness by repenting, going to our Sinners Anonymous meetings (church), and by obeying the commandments.
We seek meekness by putting the Lord's will before our own, by celebrating the accomplishments of others, and by exhibiting calm self-restraint and kindness, no matter our circumstances.
Obviously these lists are not all-inclusive, and there is overlap. It's a start though. Today, let's seek the Lord through righteousness and meekness. Let's choose to find something to work on rather than allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed with our need for improvement. Let's get outside ourselves and help others and treat them with kindness.
[The meekness steps were selected from the recent conference talk Meek and Lowly of Heart by Elder David A. Bednar. Excellent stuff. I recommend it.]
Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger."
Zephaniah 2:2-3
These verses are powerful in advising us to seek the Lord. On the surface the whole anger part might seem like scare tactics, and perhaps in a way they are, but I think it is more the way you might get frightened when you see someone you love doing something very dangerous, and you are scared *for* them. Zephaniah saw a taste of the future Second Coming, like many other prophets had, and he pleads with all of us here to please prepare ourselves rather than choosing our own destruction.
Zephaniah asks us to seek three things here: the Lord, righteousness, and meekness. It's a powerful combination, and I think that there are specific things that we can do to heed Zephaniah's warning.
We seek the Lord through prayer, scripture study, and listening to the spirit.
We seek righteousness by repenting, going to our Sinners Anonymous meetings (church), and by obeying the commandments.
We seek meekness by putting the Lord's will before our own, by celebrating the accomplishments of others, and by exhibiting calm self-restraint and kindness, no matter our circumstances.
Obviously these lists are not all-inclusive, and there is overlap. It's a start though. Today, let's seek the Lord through righteousness and meekness. Let's choose to find something to work on rather than allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed with our need for improvement. Let's get outside ourselves and help others and treat them with kindness.
[The meekness steps were selected from the recent conference talk Meek and Lowly of Heart by Elder David A. Bednar. Excellent stuff. I recommend it.]
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