Last night at church we read from Zech 7:8-14 – Then this message came to Zechariah from the LORD: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: Judge fairly and honestly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and poor people. And do not make evil plans to harm each other.
“Your ancestors would not listen to this message. They turned stubbornly away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the law or the messages that the LORD Almighty had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the LORD Almighty was so angry with them.
“Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the LORD Almighty. I scattered them as with a whirlwind among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. The land that had been so pleasant became a desert.” NLT
I thought how much we need this message; not just as a nation but as the church.
Look at what God is asking us to do; Judge fairly and honestly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and poor people. And do not make evil plans to harm each other.
But we are stopping up our ears and turning a cold heart towards that message.
God’s message to us through Zechariah is the same message throughout the Bible; You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matt 22:37-39
It all comes down to love!
Our nation is heading to ruin and massive numbers of people will die and end up in eternal hell unless we start loving God and each other as He meant us to.