These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another. – Zechariah 8:16
Seventy years had passed since the people of Israel had been taken captive to Babylon. Jerusalem was all but a ghost town. The Temple was rubble. No one wanted to live there, but it was the place where God had set his name (2 Chronicles 33:4). He maintained a passion for Jerusalem and for His people. The Lord had promised they would return to their city and rebuild it. He also promised to dwell with them there, assuring them that He had not abandoned them, but loved them still. “They shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness” (Zechariah 8:8). The prophet Zechariah relays the directions the Lord is providing for His people and their return, telling them to be truthful with one another. Then God instructs them to be strong as there was a lot of work ahead of them. He wanted them to be of good courage, and to encourage each other.
Those who follow Christ today have been given the same directions. Love one another, encourage one another, build up one another, do good to one another, and speak the truth in love. While the work is not that of rebuilding a city, it may well involve helping to rebuild a culture that has wandered far from the Lord.
If you have met the Lord through saving faith in Jesus Christ, you are one of His and He is yours. You are a temple of the living God. “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them; and I will be their God and they shall be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16). These words are for you today. You are not a brick-and-mortar temple, but your very being is the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit. As such, He calls you to remain holy in all you do, to be of good courage and strong in the faith, and to encourage one another.
God is just as passionate about you as He was with the remnant returning to Jerusalem. As pastor and author Max Lucado wrote in his book A Gentle Thunder, “If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. … Face it, He’s crazy about you!” The Lord wants your life to reflect all that He is to you. His heart remains full of love for a fallen world. God wants to work through you to bring others to Himself. Give Him the lead in your life. He will use you. “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
Pray for Christians in the administration to be beacons of light in a dark culture, so that others may be drawn to Jesus through them.
Today’s Verse: Zechariah 8:16
These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace;
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Ephesians 4:20-32
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
