Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink are you not eating for yourselves and drinking for yourselves?
Zechariah 7:5-6 LSB
I almost titled this, “Why do you do that?” As Christians, we can do things to be obedient to God or we can do things simply because they are a ritual and we have become accustomed to doing them. We may feel obligated to do them. Of course, this leads us to do them for the wrong reasons.
In our Scripture passage the Jews who were exiled and taken into Babylonian captivity are back in Jerusalem rebuilding the temple and things are going pretty good for them. This delegation asks the prophet Zechariah if they should continue their annual fast of mourning. They had started this years ago to mourn the fall of Jerusalem.
God tells Zechariah to ask them are they doing it for Him or for themselves? When God asks us questions, they are always rhetorical questions. He knows the true answer.
In their case Jerusalem fell because they disobeyed God. They chose to worship idols and false gods. Though they were warned repeatedly and exhaustively by prophets God sent to them like Isaiah and Jeremiah. They refused to listen. They kept doing things their way.
God knows what’s in our hearts. He knew they weren’t mourning out of repentance or sorrow for their sins. They were mourning out of self-pity. It’s easy for us to get caught up in religious rituals and lose sight of what they mean or why we are doing them.
Going to church can become a ritual or an obligation. I know because I did that for many years. I went to church out of obligation. I went when it was convenient for me. I went when I was praying for something and hoped God would honor my attendance.
Fasting can also be done for the wrong reasons, Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:16-18 that we should not fast to impress others but should fast so that only God knows we are fasting. This too should come from a repentant heart not from obligation.
King Saul was disobedient to God on several occasions. He tried to justify his actions, but the prophet and priest Samuel asked him in 1 Samuel 15:22, “Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.” He goes on to tell Saul that rebellion is like the sin of divination and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry.
When we do good things with wrong motives, we are being defiant to God. Think about that. God wants us to love Him with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. He doesn’t want us to come to Him because others are doing it or to make others think we are holier than thou. He wants our undivided attention. He wants complete surrender and devotion to Him.
He doesn’t want vain repetitive prayers. It’s not about the number of words, it’s about talking to him from our heart. He sees our heart, he knows what we need. Jesus said in Matthew 6:7-8, “When you pray, don’t babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they will be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.”
We should speak as we would to a loving Father who has saved us from sin and death because that’s who He is and what He did for us.
It’s easy for us to do things out of obligation or to perform rituals without a thought as to what we are really doing and why we are really doing it. But God knows what’s in our hearts. He knows if we are sincere. He knows if we are self-serving or if our heart is devoted to Him.
No matter how many rituals you perform for your religion, God will not honor your disobedience. We are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind and to love others as we love ourselves. No exceptions.
Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Do you love Him enough to obey Him? Your obedience is what truly matters.
Have a great day!