I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Zechariah 7-10.

    In light of the rebuilding of the Temple, some of the people asked Zechariah whether they should continue fasting in commemoration of its destruction. Zechariah calls them out for making their religious rituals, festivals, and events about them rather than about worshiping God. In verse 9 & 10 Zechariah sums up what God wants from us:

Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

This theme is echoed in James 1:27. All too often we allow the world to corrupt us and begin to see our worship services as being about what WE get out of them.

    Shortly after giving the people the message calling them to task for being more concerned with what they got out of their religious activities, both fasts and festivals, Zechariah praises them for listening to the other prophets and restarting the work on the Temple. Despite having no surplus to spend on the Temple, they had sacrificed to restart the work on rebuilding it. As a result, God is as determined to bless them as He was determined to punish their ancestors. Before the fall of Jerusalem, the prophets condemned the people for their sins and called on them to repent, but declared that they would not. Now Zechariah once more calls on the people to repent of their sins and do what is right, but this time he declares that they will indeed do so. They will do so because God is determined that they will. God will provide them with the strength and wish to do right and because they do right they will draw other people to Him. When our desire to do right is about serving God and doing His will, the blessings will follow. When our desire to do right is about what’s in it for me, we are missing the point and will receive few blessings. Fortunately, God is good. If we truly do what is right, even if for the wrong reasons, God will bless us by changing our hearts.