September 12, 2025 -Who's It All For

ZECHARIAH 6:1-15

EZRA 5:3-6:14

ZECHARIAH 7:1-8:23

Chronological Bible Reading

Zechariah7:1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the Lord 3 by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

"...as I have done for so many years". How often do we do things because that is what we have always done without any thought about why we are doing it? Things like go to church, say a prayer, read our bible, sing a hymn, or take communion. Maybe you have made a regular practice of fasting or meditation and it has become ritual or habit without real meaning. Our singing should be for the purpose of giving honor and glory to God not about how we might sound. When we come to the communion table, we should be laying down our sin in confession before the Lord and remembering all that He did on the cross for us not just going through the motions. When we pray it should be about seeking His will, trusting His power and timing, and surrendering our wants and desires to His plan and purpose. Not reciting a memorized prayer or listing of what we want. When we read the bible it is to be done to seek to hear from the Lord not to get it done and check it off a list. It is easy for repeated things to become rote.

Zechariah 7:4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?

We may start off doing something with our hearts and minds in the right place but when we continue to do it, it becomes more habit without thought of God. We may even get to a place where we are doing things for ourselves. Have you ever thought or heard someone else say, "I'm just not getting anything out of the sermons, the music or the something else in church."? Self-focused worship is about you not God. I have heard people leave a church saying they just aren't "being fed". Maybe there is an issue in the church that makes it a good reason to leave but only if you check your heart and motivations. Think back to when you started. Did you feel like you were being fed then? If so then the problem is probably not the church. Are you in church for you or for God. We should seek to learn more about God through the preaching, not look for enjoyment in the presentation. The music is not there to entertain us but to direct our hearts and minds to worship God. When you walk into a time of fellowship in the body of Christ do you look around to see where you can serve or help out? Do you seek out connection with someone you don't know well or who may be struggling so that you can show them the love of Christ? Or do you look for the people you are comfortable with and check out the food table to see if there are things you like to eat. Or maybe you don't even go at all because you have something else to do that you would enjoy more. When we get together as the body of Christ to have a meal it should be a celebration of Jesus in our lives not to fill our bellies.

Zechariah 7:9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears.

"Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other." Sound a lot like what Jesus taught. We must be careful not to turn our backs on what Jesus has taught us. He has clearly told us what we are to do and how we are to live.

Zechariah 7:13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty.

Again, we see that when we do not listen to Him, He will not listen to us. These are words I never want to hear again in my conversation with God. If we listen, He will speak.