Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
“The Lord was very angry with your forefathers. Therefore, tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the Lord. Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your forefathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as He determined to do.'”
– Zechariah 1:2-6
Devotion
Zechariah warned the people who had just begun rebuilding the temple that they were to listen to God’s message through the prophets. They were to also keep a close relationship with God so that there would be no further judgment. The Israelites had failed to learn from their past. They repeated history in rejecting God’s Word and His anointed messengers. If there was to be spiritual renewal in the land, the people must break away from the repeated mistakes of the past.
The Big Question
Like the children of Israel, we are called to listen and apply God’s Word to our lives. We are also called to walk in a close relationship with God. What are you doing to “hide” God’s Word in your heart? What steps are you taking to walk in a more intimate relationship with God? What past sins keep creeping back into your life? Are you willing to take an honest look into your past in order to experience personal revival in your spiritual life now?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence reflecting on what God revealed to you today.