Read 1 Chronicles 13-14, Zechariah 7, and John 20.
This devotional is about Zechariah 7.
During the 70 years that Judah was captive to Babylon, the Jewish people began a tradition of fasting in the fifth and seventh month of each year (vv. 3-4). The purpose of the fast was, on the surface at least, to beg the Lord to end the captivity, return his people to the promised land, and restore the temple. But, when Zechariah wrote these words, the temple was being rebuilt and many people were returning to Judah. The things God’s people had been fasting for were happening. So the delegation described in verse 2 wanted to know if the fasting was still necessary.
Zechariah’s answer was long and did not conclude until chapter 8, but his entire answer challenged the questioners more than it answered the question. The Lord asked the people, “…was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?” (vv. 6-7). A fast of true repentance would have honored the Lord but a mere ritual that everyone observed as a matter of custom meant as little to the Lord as it did to the people observing the fast. Likewise, their “normal” days of eating and drinking were done without any regard for the Lord. They did not give thanks for the food he provided or enjoy it as an act of worship from grateful hearts. Both their religious observance and their daily habits were done for themselves, not as servants of God seeking to please him.
Instead of living for themselves, God wanted his people to live like him daily, showing justice, mercy and compassion (v. 9) by caring for widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor rather than using the vulnerabilities of these groups as levers to exploit them (v. 10). That is the kind of worship God wants, not because he expected people to work to earn his favor but because these ethics were evidence of a truly changed heart.
Think about your daily choices–to eat or not to eat, to read God’s word and pray or not, to attend church or sleep in, to be kind and helpful to others or to ignore their needs. Does your walk with God drive the decisions you make on these (and other) things or do you choose what you will and won’t do based on your own personal motivations?
When you have the opportunity to help someone in need, do you do it as an act of worship and obedience to the Lord?
These are important questions to think about on a regular basis. Are we really living our lives to worship God or do we live to serve ourselves and just sprinkle the name of Jesus on top of it?