Thought from today’s Bible reading from Zechariah 1-7.
The book of Zechariah opened with a call to repentance.
“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts’” (Zechariah 1:3).
The call to repentance was made in order to restore fellowship with God. If they returned to the Lord (repented), then the Lord would return to them (restore fellowship). God’s acceptance of them was conditioned upon an appropriate response to their sins.
We see first of all that God was willing to receive them back, despite their unfaithfulness. Other passages also show God’s desire for men to be saved, rather than lost:
“‘For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,’ declares the Lord God. ‘Therefore, repent and live’” (Ezekiel 18:32).
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
However, even though God is willing to receive the erring back to Him, forgiveness and restoration of fellowship are conditional. The word of God through Zechariah said the people must “return” to the Lord. The passages above emphasize turning from wickedness, or repentance.
When one puts away sin and faithfully obeys the Lord, he can be confident that the Lord forgives him and accepts him. If we have sin in our lives, we should not expect God to accept our sin. Rather, we should do as these verses tell us to do – repent and return to God so that we might be restored to a right relationship with Him.
Tomorrow’s reading: Zechariah 8-14
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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