Do What Is Right

Still reading in Zechariah, it's a fun book. I've hit a section that is also in Hosea and other prophets, almost a theme if you will.

The people have been behaving badly, shocker. They are doing things that upset God and caused their own destruction. Now all these people and prophets want to make God happy. So how do you do that?

Zechariah 7:2-3 ~ The Jews of the city of Bethel had sent a group of men headed by Sharezer, the chief administrative officer of the king, and Regem-melech, to the Lord’s Temple at Jerusalem, to seek his blessing and to speak with the priests and prophets about whether they must continue their traditional custom of fasting and mourning during the month of August each year, as they had been doing for so long. (LB)

So there are all these problems and the Jews (and priests) want to ask God if they should keep practicing religion as they should, would that make God happy? The answer:

Zechariah 7:8-10 ~ Then this message from the Lord came to Zechariah. “Tell them to be honest and fair—and not to take bribes—and to be merciful and kind to everyone. Tell them to stop oppressing widows and orphans, foreigners and poor people, and to stop plotting evil against each other. (LB)

Hmmm. Really? This group of people are lying, taking bribes, acting mean and violent, treating widows and orphans badly, being horrible to foreigners, or worse, poor people and laying out plans to do unspeakable evil to each other. And they wonder why God isn't happy! I mean, He should be, despite all this we are going to church on Sunday like we should, right?

Living for God is so much more than an hour on Sunday. How about we actually start living the other 167 hours in a week like God wants us to live? Not just in a religious "read your Bible" way, but actually living out the love of God every minute of every day!

After all, if you were God, what would you want more? People living for you, or people directly disobeying you, but sucking up one hour a week since it's their duty to...?

T