Observation: As the exile is ending and the people return to Judah and Jerusalem, they come and ask what they should be doing. Specifically, they ask about a special annual fast they had been performing during the exile. This is how the Lord answers them ... they should care a lot less about 'procedures' they developed to show faith to the Lord (for were they even really doing those things for the Lord, or for themselves and their own guilt?), and they should instead just do what they were told to do for centuries by the prophets, which is to love one another.
Zechariah says this in more specific language; The people are to administer justice fairly, show mercy and compassion, caring especially for orphans and widows and the poor and anyone else in need, while never planning evil against anyone. However, that boils down to 'love one another', which is also how Jesus later paraphrases this same collection of instructions when asked about the greatest commandment.
The people, coming out of exile - a time when they were punished for failing to obey the Lord by following his commandments, but instead attempted to outwardly exhibit faith simply by clinging to perfunctory rituals instead - immediately wonder if the new rituals should be continued. The Lord responds just as he always does ... just obey my simple command to love the Lord and love others, and everything else falls into place.
Application: I have been trying to learn to love others more and more, yet I also know I do some performance-based faith myself. I can do that when I pray publicly without really thinking about what I'm saying, or perhaps even by posting this blog in a public-access forum.
Tonight, I will again serve at Christmas lights, and it will be a 'light' night as the weather will be terrible so we won't have many visitors. The issue is that I need to remember in my heart and mind that the goal is to love others, and show them the love of Jesus, not to be 'seen' as someone serving.
I know this is what bothers me about some other believers right now, who serve only for the social media photo op. Interestingly, whenever I see that in others, I also know how their lives are going, what is happening in their families, and I know there is correlation between how they exhibit their faith publicly, and how their faith then operates privately. This has always been the Lord's teaching ... when our faith is a performance, it results in a troublesome life, but when we have true faith, our actions will become a sincere outpouring of love to others.
More and more, I hope I can show love to others, instead of just acting like a Christian.
Prayer: Lord, I am here to serve others with your love, tonight and every day. Here I am. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment