Good Morning Friends,
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer
true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the
widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think
evil of each other.’” (Zechariah 7:9-10)
God wants our relationship with Him to make a
difference in how we respond to the people around us.
That principle has been true since the
beginning of His interactions with men and remains true today. The problem in
Zechariah’s day wasn’t just that the people had forgotten God, but that they
also were not treating others in a way that reflected God’s work in their
lives.
It doesn’t please God for us to go through
religious ceremonies and actions and then cheat the people around us. He wants
to see us treat people with justice.
It doesn’t please God for us to sing praise
to Him and treat other people with harshness and an uncaring attitude. He wants
to see mercy and compassion from us toward others.
It doesn’t please God for us to give to Him and
withhold from those in need around us. Hearts changed by God should respond to
the needs of those around us.
When God spoke through James about the kind
of response to Him that pleases Him, He made the same point as He did through
Zechariah: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being
polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)
Does the way you treat the people around you
reflect the work of God in your life?
If it doesn’t, there is something wrong in
the way you are responding to God!!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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