Repent and Live

Toward a New Creation
Life on God's Terms

God Prunes and Grafts

Zechariah 8:9-17  The Message

^9-10 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Get a grip on things. Hold tight, you who are listening to what I say through the preaching of the prophets. The Temple of God-of-the-Angel-Armies has been reestablished. The Temple is being rebuilt. We’ve come through a hard time: You worked for a pittance and were lucky to get that; the streets were dangerous; you could never let down your guard; I had turned the world into an armed camp.
^11-12 “But things have changed. I’m taking the side of my core of surviving people:

Sowing and harvesting will resume,
Vines will grow grapes,
Gardens will flourish,
Dew and rain will make everything green.

^12-13 “My core survivors will get everything they need—and more. You’ve gotten a reputation as a bad-news people, you people of Judah and Israel, but I’m coming to save you. From now on, you’re the good-news people. Don’t be afraid. Keep a firm grip on what I’m doing.”

Keep Your Lives Simple and Honest

^14-17 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“In the same way that I decided to punish you when your ancestors made me angry, and didn’t pull my punches, at this time I’ve decided to bless Jerusalem and the country of Judah. Don’t be afraid. And now here’s what I want you to do: Tell the truth, the whole truth, when you speak. Do the right thing by one another, both personally and in your courts. Don’t cook up plans to take unfair advantage of others. Don’t do or say what isn’t so. I hate all that stuff. Keep your lives simple and honest.” Decree of God.

For Reflection

God will always be on the side of his people.  Who are God's people?  We all are, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  We are all part of God's creation.  God's overture for reconciliation, Jesus Christ, offers a path to spiritual and human calling.  Becoming all you can be is possible in the loving hands of God.  Do good because the Holy Spirit resides in you.

Pray

that you will recognize the Holy Spirit which resides in you and in each of us.  Pray that you see our differences as strengths.  Pray that you see our similarities as that which conjoins us with God