MUTUAL PRIDE
This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, "They are my people," and they will say, "The Lord is our God." Zech. 13:9, N.I.V.
Many Christians have puzzled over God's plan to allow His sealed remnant to go through a period of serious trial before He rescues them from this dying planet. (See Dan. 12:1, 2; Rev. 7:13, 14.) But ask a man who is buying gold ingots if he is glad that the refiners have purified the gold until it can be certified 99,999 percent pure. For God is about to bring home a people that He can "certify" as safe to save, totally cleansed from any lingering attachments to Satan's deceptions and values.
The Bible often uses the imagery of "a third" to describe God's remnant--that minority who remains loyal to His purposes. When Zechariah portrays that time when God will purify His own, there is a note of special pride in the passage. God puts into the purifying fires only those whom He knows can handle the heat. When He permits them to experience great trial, it is actually a statement of confidence in His people. It's as though God is calling all His friends from around the universe to look over the balconies of heaven and to watch how His people respond when every earthly means of support has been stripped away.
But there is a two-way message in this verse. God is saying, "Look at them? Don't you agree that we can be proud of them? If they remain loyal under these most trying circumstances, can't we trust them throughout eternity? I'll claim them; they are My people!" At the same time, God's people--though surrounded with every manner of threatening circumstances--are looking above it all. They are looking up and saying, "The Lord, He is our God. We are done with every lesser object of trust, every inducement to doubt, every trace of rebellion."
What could be finer! Mutual trust, mutual pride, mutual adoration. This is a relationship that will last. For all who wish to prepare themselves for the trials of the last days, this is the key: Become so deeply acquainted even now with your Father that in every trial you can look to Him with utter confidence. After all, that's exactly how He wants to look at you!
This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, "They are my people," and they will say, "The Lord is our God." Zech. 13:9, N.I.V.
Many Christians have puzzled over God's plan to allow His sealed remnant to go through a period of serious trial before He rescues them from this dying planet. (See Dan. 12:1, 2; Rev. 7:13, 14.) But ask a man who is buying gold ingots if he is glad that the refiners have purified the gold until it can be certified 99,999 percent pure. For God is about to bring home a people that He can "certify" as safe to save, totally cleansed from any lingering attachments to Satan's deceptions and values.
The Bible often uses the imagery of "a third" to describe God's remnant--that minority who remains loyal to His purposes. When Zechariah portrays that time when God will purify His own, there is a note of special pride in the passage. God puts into the purifying fires only those whom He knows can handle the heat. When He permits them to experience great trial, it is actually a statement of confidence in His people. It's as though God is calling all His friends from around the universe to look over the balconies of heaven and to watch how His people respond when every earthly means of support has been stripped away.
But there is a two-way message in this verse. God is saying, "Look at them? Don't you agree that we can be proud of them? If they remain loyal under these most trying circumstances, can't we trust them throughout eternity? I'll claim them; they are My people!" At the same time, God's people--though surrounded with every manner of threatening circumstances--are looking above it all. They are looking up and saying, "The Lord, He is our God. We are done with every lesser object of trust, every inducement to doubt, every trace of rebellion."
What could be finer! Mutual trust, mutual pride, mutual adoration. This is a relationship that will last. For all who wish to prepare themselves for the trials of the last days, this is the key: Become so deeply acquainted even now with your Father that in every trial you can look to Him with utter confidence. After all, that's exactly how He wants to look at you!
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