Meaningful routines and rituals can easily become empty and meaningless. That's the challenge of personal prayer and Bible study - it's much too easy to do these things simply for the sake of doing them.
During one of the darkest times in Israel's history - the seventy years of exile and captivity in Babylon - they devoted themselves to the regular practice of fasting. While fasting can be an act of worship and devotion to the Lord, this routine had become devoid of meaning:
"Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, "Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?" (Zechariah 7:4-5)
A significant ritual had degenerated into something misdirected and meaningless. That which was initially God-focused had become other-focused and meaningless.
God's remedy for this misguided ritual is interesting:
"Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying, "Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'" (Zechariah 7:8-10)
The remedy for meaningless worship ritual was found in expressions of love and benevolence to other members of the family of God. The pathway to God-focused worship was other-centered acts of charity and love.
Our richest times with the Lord are found in the midst of times of active service and charity toward others. The opposite is also true.
Service and charity are no substitute for worship through the disciples of prayer and Bible study, but both are interdependent and enhance one another. A well-rounded life is one of both worship and service.
May we each find true fulfillment and joy through both worship of the ultimate King of the kingdom as well as service in and for the kingdom.
Steve
During one of the darkest times in Israel's history - the seventy years of exile and captivity in Babylon - they devoted themselves to the regular practice of fasting. While fasting can be an act of worship and devotion to the Lord, this routine had become devoid of meaning:
"Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, "Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?" (Zechariah 7:4-5)
A significant ritual had degenerated into something misdirected and meaningless. That which was initially God-focused had become other-focused and meaningless.
God's remedy for this misguided ritual is interesting:
"Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying, "Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'" (Zechariah 7:8-10)
The remedy for meaningless worship ritual was found in expressions of love and benevolence to other members of the family of God. The pathway to God-focused worship was other-centered acts of charity and love.
Our richest times with the Lord are found in the midst of times of active service and charity toward others. The opposite is also true.
Service and charity are no substitute for worship through the disciples of prayer and Bible study, but both are interdependent and enhance one another. A well-rounded life is one of both worship and service.
May we each find true fulfillment and joy through both worship of the ultimate King of the kingdom as well as service in and for the kingdom.
Steve
posted by steve @ 9:05 AM
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