What’s Left

Zephaniah 3:12

“But I will leave within you
    the meek and humble.
The remnant of Israel
    will trust in the name of the Lord.”

My dad loves to tell stories. He is always telling us things that he has done and experienced over his many years. He once told us how the nuns in his Catholic school treated kids who misbehaved. Shockingly, they would have a long stick used for pointing things on the chalkboard and use it on the unruly kids. They would walk up and down the aisles and swat the hands of the kids who were misbehaving with the stick. Times have changed for sure.

If you are wondering who will be left when the curtain finally closes on this earth, this verse gives you a hint. Zephaniah is another minor prophet, and his book is only 3 chapters long, like many of the others. It is filled with the Lord’s wrath on the earth for turning away from Him, but the last chapter reveals that the Lord will restore Israel.

Our verse today seems to give us hints about the kind of people God will leave in Israel. He says He will leave the meek and humble. I have added the definitions of both words below. Both seem to put our humanity in a place that is second to the Lord.

Meek definition: quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive

Humble definition: having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance

Jesus was described as being meek. These two terms are in stark contrast to the bravado of the world. God told Moses that He would give the people skills to build the place where the Lord was going to dwell. He also said that He puts rulers in place and takes them out. God even used the pagan nation of Babylon to do His bidding. The Lord can use anything in His creation to further His Kingdom.

Here we see the kind of people God will leave to represent Him. Today, practice the traits found in Zephaniah, being meek and humble. We don’t always have to be meek and humble; even Jesus got angry, but I do think these character traits need to be the main qualities others see when we are around. Who is left? The meek and humble, and those who trust in the Lord.

Prayer: Father, I pray that I will strengthen the traits of being meek and humble in my life. I pray that I will always look for ways to exercise these traits the Lord wants us to use to represent Him. I pray that my personality will reflect what the Lord wants to show. In Jesus’ name, amen.