Continuing my AM reading through Zechariah. Ch 7 today. One thing among endless others that makes the OT prophets immensely valuable to read today is that they help us see, often in staggeringly vivid terms, what God Himself highly values. “The word of the Lord came to Zechariah:

The Lord of Armies says this: ‘Make fair decisions. Show faithful love & compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the resident alien or the poor & do not plot evil in your hearts against one another. But they refused to pay attention and turned a...

...stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear. They made their hearts like a rock...Therefore intense anger came from the Lord. Zech 7:8-13

Some believe, because of the cross, that we’re not at risk of divine displeasure & we don’t get warnings like those.

We must never, ever overlook Jesus’ post-Calvary messages to the 7 churches in Revelation 2 & 3. We find there commendations, rebukes and serious warnings.

Jesus still walks among the lampstands.

“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Not trying to be contentious. Or foreboding. Or pessimistic. Or political. Not trying to go all chicken little. I don’t have a critical spirit toward the church. I love the church. I deeply love it. But we’re in so much trouble here. We have gotten so far from the heart of Jesus.

We can keep arguing. We can keep taking sides. We can keep up all our shenanigans and continue rationalizing all our compromises. Or we could just each and all repent of how far we have moved - all of us on every “side” - from Jesus. And perhaps we could find our witness again.