Iron and Bronzen Qualities

UV 1540/10000 Iron and Bronzen Qualities

For behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

Jeremiah 1 v 18

We who trust God and His Word are a fortified city. We serve the purpose of the Lord both individually and collectively. The promises of God are our ramparts and strong defence. It is like an iron pillar that can withstand corrosion. We have in us the strength of a bronzen wall- bronze combining the strength and qualities of many metals. The Lord builds His Kingdom within us and through and with us. We have the combined strength of the Trinity, the Word, our spirits. Iron is a symbol of strength and discipline. Our appetites are disciplined. Like Daniel and his faithful companions, we have no desire for what defiles the image of God in us. The empire of Babylon has not prevailed. Its wonderful structures have all perished but the shining example of Daniel and his friends continue to inspire people to this day to live a life of faith. The armies of Babylon, the fineries, the palaces have all perished with barely a trace left in history. The values, principles, models and precepts the Lord has taught us over time are converted into practices or habits. The Lord uses these to remove our feet of clay or our weaknesses and to remove our feet that are stuck in the miry clay of this world and put us on the Rock of ages.

Neither political or military power nor religious influence or common people can prevail against the faithful. We are like an invisible iron pillar of strength, a bronzen wall of the kingdom of God. We in turn lean on Jesus as our tower of power- our source of strength, power and grace. Prayer, study and meditation on the Word, praise and worship, fellowship and witness determine our mettle as well as the shape of our lives. Iron is not that malleable while bronze is malleable. Hence, in the basics of our faith we should be less flexible like iron while in all other things we can be like the more flexible or malleable bronze. We can like Paul become all things to all people so that some may be saved.

All the military hardware, the technological innovations and sources of power of the modern world will one day perish like the wonders and might of Babylon but the life of faith will continue to prevail and inspire people. The Lord is not impressed by genius or brilliance or might but He is touched by the prayers of the faithful and humble. The metaphor the Lord uses for people who please Him are varied, colourful and meaningful: the salt and light of the earth, a well-watered and fenced garden, a spring whose waters never dry, a city on a hill, clay to the potter, an iron pillar and bronzen wall. An iron pillar is a symbol of victory. An iron pillar endures and beats the worst that nature can throw at it. Similarly, our faith will endure despite all changes in our environment and happenings in our lives. The Lord has designed us to be a symbol of victory and blessing. We are to be like a glass prism to split the white light of His grace and power into seven blessings of the rainbow : timely inputs for our growth and flourishing like the former spring rain and the latter rain at the time of harvest, restoration of what we have lost, making up not only for lost time but for lost opportunities and lost blessings of peace and joy, deliverance, financial provision, miracles or wonders that our eye has not seen or our ears have not heard, vision and blessings on family and offspring or generations to come.

Prateep V Philip