Return to Me Again

A Call to Return to the Lord
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2 “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”
Zechariah 1:1-6

The book of Zechariah opens with a message of challenge for those Jews who have returned from exile in Babylon. Return to God and God will return to you. Repent, and God will respond.
It is a beautiful and good thing to receive such a call. Repentance is sweet and is even sweeter when you know God’s response. This challenge to the Jews is also a challenge to us. If there is any way that you need to return to God, then do so. God will return to you as well. There is no gray area. No maybes. God will respond to repentance. He will draw near to those who draw near to him. If you have doubts that he will, recognize those doubts as a lie from the enemy, misconstruing the very character of God.
Repenting and returning to God is sweet because it means returning to the very source of life. God loves life, and his commands are always designed to preserve and allow life to flourish. The call to return to God can be restated as a call to return to life. It means jettisoning all that God calls an activity or instrument of death. It asked the Jews then, and it asks us now, will you lay down all that is in opposition to God? Will you clear your life of death, so that the author of life may have his way? Ironically, sometimes clearing our lives of death feels more like dying than moving toward life. Sometimes, laying down the thing that God says will kill us is unintuitive, scary, or even painful. Even so, it is still sweet and a pathway to life.
The Jews in Zechariah's day initially responded well to God’s call, and God promised that he would inherit Judah as his portion once again. For us, the day has come. God has inherited us, and the mark of this is his Holy Spirit. Let’s live in communion with the Spirit and in a state of sweet response to God.
- John Barzal

[ EXAMINE ] the passage. At this point, answer some questions about the meaning of the text. Take time to reflect:
+ How does this passage fit into the context of the story of the Bible? Where does this passage find itself in the history of Israel?
+ What does this passage demonstrate about the character of God?
+ How does this passage relate to God’s desire for restoration and his need to punish covenant unfaithfulness?

[ APPLY ] the passage to your own life:
+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?
+ How do you need to change your view of repentance?
+ Do you need to change how you believe God responds to you when you sin?

[ PRAY ] through the passage and your application, and ask God to change your heart and your life.
(e.g., your family around the dinner table, a friend, co-worker or neighbor- for help join a community group at downtownhope.churchcenter.com/groups)
+ What is my next step?