Faith rests yet also acts . . .

 

READ Zechariah 5–9

At times, I thought I could combine the practice of fasting and prayer with my desire to lose weight. It never worked and these verses from Zechariah tell me why:

Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?

First lesson for this day: God does not honor mixed motives or using spiritual disciplines for personal gain.

Zechariah has more from the Lord: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

The second lesson is that being God’s child is not a list of don’t's but more about doing! Sadly, Zechariah’s hearers “refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets.” Because of their refusal to listen, God was angry and said, “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear” and He “scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.” (Zechariah 7:4–14)

I belong to the Lord and He is jealous that I trust Him, and not myself. He had that same attitude for His OT people and had wonderful plans for them:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath . . . . I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. . . . Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets . . . . If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight?  . . . . Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God in faithfulness and in righteousness.” (8:1–8)

He “purposed to bring disaster” when they provoked Him to wrath in the past, and He did not relent, but also purposed in those days to bring good to them. They must “Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.” (8:14–17)

His commands are not only for His people but to draw others into His forever family:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ” (8:20–23)

Zechariah also speaks of the coming One: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey . . . . and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea . . . .” (9:9-10) His promise displays His goodness: “On that day the Lord their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!” (9:16–17)

This is the God that I worship today, a day still filled with a personal threat of Covid to my husband’s health and the threat of larger conflicts reported in world news, yet a day when I know the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ and the peace of heart that He alone can give. Thank You, Jesus.