Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read 1 Chronicles 13 and 14, Zechariah 7 and John 20. This devotional is about Zechariah 7. 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 Chislev. Now the people of Bethel had sent Cherezer and Regem-Melech, along with their men, to plead before the Lord by asking the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, as well as the prophets, Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years? Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Ask all the people of the land and the priests, when you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves? Are these not the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were populous and prosperous, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited? Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, This is what the Lord of hosts says, Administer true justice, show loving devotion and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another. But they refused to pay attention, and turned a stubborn shoulder. They stopped up their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like flint, and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. And just as I had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord of hosts. But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation. This is God's Word. During the 70 years that Judah was in captivity to Babylon, the Jewish people began a tradition of fasting in the fifth and seventh month of each year. We saw that in verses 3 and 4. The purpose of the fast was, on the surface at least, to beg the Lord to end the captivity and return his people to the promised land and restore the temple. But when Zechariah wrote these words, the temple was being rebuilt and many people were returning to Judah already. So the things God's people had been fasting for were happening. So the delegation described in verse 2 wanted to know if the fasting was still necessary. Zechariah's answer was long and did not conclude until chapter 8. But his entire answer challenged the questioners more than it answered their question. The Lord asked the people, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? We saw that in verses six and seven. A fast of true repentance would have honored the Lord, yes, but a mere ritual that everyone observed as a matter of custom meant as little to the Lord as it did to the people observing the fast. Likewise, their normal days of eating and drinking were done without any regard for the Lord. They did not give thanks for the food He provided, or enjoy it as an act of worship from grateful hearts. Both their religious observance and their daily habits were done for themselves, not as servants of God seeking to please Him. Instead of living for themselves, God wanted his people to live like him daily, showing justice, mercy, and compassion, as we saw in verse 9, by caring for the widow, orphans, foreigners, and the poor, rather than using the vulnerabilities of these groups as levers to exploit them. We saw that in verse 10. That's the kind of worship God wants. Not because he expected people to work to earn favor with him, but because these ethics were evidence of a truly changed heart. Think about your daily choices. To eat or not to eat. To read God's word and pray or not. To attend church or to sleep in. To be kind and helpful to others or to just ignore their needs. Does your walk with God drive the decisions you make on these and other things? Or do you choose what you will and won't do based on your own personal motivation? When you have the opportunity to help someone in need, do you do it as an act of worship and obedience to the Lord? These are really important questions for us to think about on a regular basis. Do we really live our lives to worship God? Or do we live to serve ourselves and just sprinkle the name of Jesus on top of it? I'd encourage you to take some time and pray about this before the Lord just now. And I'll see you next time. May God bless you. Hope you have a great day today.