Study of Zechariah (book of the Bible)

Zechariah 1:3-6:


3The first message the Lord sent Zechariah: ' Return to me and I will return to you.  Don't be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention.  Turn from your evil ways and stop all your evil practices.'


     We have to each be our own person.  It does not matter how we are raised or who our families are.       We are each responsible for our own actions.  We know, even if it is deep, down inside... we know what is right and wrong.  We must stop doing the things we know are wrong - against ourselves, against others, and against God.


5Everything I said through prophets happened.  Because of this your ancestors repented and said 'We have received what we deserved.  He has done what he said he would do.'


     The Lord has said that evil will punished.  We know the penalty of sin is death.  Even from the first sin of Adam and Eve: they would have lived with God on earth forever, but then they went against God, they eventually had to die.  Jesus was the last sacrificial death for sin.  He took all sin and died for it.  We, however, cannot continue to knowingly sin.  When we sin (and EVERYONE sins) we must repent, ask for forgiveness, forgive ourselves and learn not to commit that sin again.  It is hard and EVERYONE will fall again and again, but that is the beauty of Jesus!  He died for ALL sin.  However, if we keep sinning over and over and not repenting and not learning, we move farther from God and Jesus.  God has said EVERYONE will stand before him to be judged.  I don't know about you, but I want Jesus, the one who loved me so much he died for me, as my lawyer, defending me!!


The words in black are paraphrased from the Tyndale Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation.  The words in purple are written by Lisa Anne Thomas.