He Is Ever Present!

Reading:  Zechariah 1 - 7
My Verse:  1:3 "Therefore say to them.  Thus says the Lord of hosts; Return to Me, says the Lord of hosts and I will return to you; it is the utterance of the Lord of hosts."

Zechariah is a mighty book, I am intimidated by the content.  The ESL says that the New Testament refers to this book over 67 times!  So it is an important book and You have much to tell me here, Lord. 

The first message I get from this reading is that You, Lord, are never absent.  The Israelites felt that You were and so they did not concern themselves with You.  But, "These are they whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro through the earth and patrol it." (1:10)  This brings to mind a verse that I have hung onto through the years, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  (Hebrews 13:5)  Such wonderful assurance!  Thank You, that we can hang onto You and know that You are always present!

The second message comes out in chapter seven.  The Israelites have gotten into a ritualistic pattern - legalism.  Their lives did not reflect the rituals that they were performing.  The Lord plead with them to, "Execute true judgement and show mercy and kindness and tender compassion, every man to his brother."  (7:9)  "But they refused to listen and turned a rebellious and stubborn shoulder and made heavy and dull their ears that they might not hear." (7:11)  Wow!  They just refused to listen, purposed to not "hear" the words of their Lord.  Oh, Lord, I too am guilty of this when I don't want to obey You.  It is kind of scarey how easy that is to do - shutting You out of our lives. 

I can appreciate Paul's admonition to carry on the race like an athlete.  Practice, practice so that we do the right thing even when we don't feel like doing the right thing! "But I buffet my body and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit." (1Corinthians (9:27)

So Lord, You are ever present and I must be careful not to become legalistic in how I live out my Christain life before You.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!