"And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:
And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness."
Isaiah 1:25-27
I really like the idea of becoming perfect. As a people, world, or as an individual, it definitely doesn't happen all at once, but I like the idea that it is a process that is actually happening.
This set of verses talks about purification in a couple of different ways. First, purging away dross is referring to the analogy of God purifying us as silver is purified (see Malachi 3:3, 3 Nephi 24:3, or D&C 128:24). The part that isn't silver gets burned off.
Redemption is another kind of purification/perfection. It is the process of being saved or freed from our sins... in effect, purging them from our souls, and making us pure again. In this verse it talks about the redemption of Zion happening through judgment, and the perfection of her converts, which I think means us, through righteousness.
All of these things... purging the dross, judgment, righteousness... these are all part of the same thing. And it is God's work of helping us to change from flawed mortals to flawless immortals, as we go through the process of purging away our sins, as we learn to value God's judgment before our own, and eventually learn how to see as he sees, and as we learn righteousness.
The process is sometimes complex, and it can be painful at times... but the goal that we are working for is better selves, but also happier and kinder and there is no pain that we will endure that won't be made up for many times over by what we have the chance to be, and to enjoy.
Today, let's work on the little choices that make us better than we were yesterday. Not only for ourselves, but the choices that will change the world for the better, and make the whole world a better place. Closer to Zion. :)
And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness."
Isaiah 1:25-27
I really like the idea of becoming perfect. As a people, world, or as an individual, it definitely doesn't happen all at once, but I like the idea that it is a process that is actually happening.
This set of verses talks about purification in a couple of different ways. First, purging away dross is referring to the analogy of God purifying us as silver is purified (see Malachi 3:3, 3 Nephi 24:3, or D&C 128:24). The part that isn't silver gets burned off.
Redemption is another kind of purification/perfection. It is the process of being saved or freed from our sins... in effect, purging them from our souls, and making us pure again. In this verse it talks about the redemption of Zion happening through judgment, and the perfection of her converts, which I think means us, through righteousness.
All of these things... purging the dross, judgment, righteousness... these are all part of the same thing. And it is God's work of helping us to change from flawed mortals to flawless immortals, as we go through the process of purging away our sins, as we learn to value God's judgment before our own, and eventually learn how to see as he sees, and as we learn righteousness.
The process is sometimes complex, and it can be painful at times... but the goal that we are working for is better selves, but also happier and kinder and there is no pain that we will endure that won't be made up for many times over by what we have the chance to be, and to enjoy.
Today, let's work on the little choices that make us better than we were yesterday. Not only for ourselves, but the choices that will change the world for the better, and make the whole world a better place. Closer to Zion. :)
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