The Daily Fountain Devotional Monday, December 12, 2022
The Daily Fountain Devotional Monday, December 12, 2022
Monday, December 12,2022
TOPIC: NOT LIKE YOUR FATHERS
TEXT: Zechariah 1:1-6
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2 The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. 4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord.
5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.
The Daily Fountain Devotional Monday, December 12, 2022
INTRODUCTION TEXT
When we got to the village for my father's burial, one statement I kept hearing at every point of discussion with the elders was "that is our tradition" or "that's the way it's done.". Hardly did I hear "that is what God expects." And when they say this, they expect compliance, whether or not it is against Christian morality. Unfortunately, many of the people who insist on tradition are themselves in the church; yet they insist on the ways of their fathers. God spoke to His people through Zachariah and the counsel is clear: "Do not be like your fathers...turn from your evil ways " (v.4). God does not expect us to be like our fathers in evil; He does not expect us to be like them if what they did was against God's purpose; He does not expect us to continue the maltreatment of widows because our fathers did same.
But many a Christian still holds to the tradition of the fathers even when it goes contrary to God's expectation. If there is any aspect of your culture that is not in accordance with Bible expectations, do not continue in it. After all, we are not insisting on living in thatched houses because our fathers lived there. Traditions change; fathers pass away, but God's words are eternal. Let us repent from all the ways of the fathers that are evil.
Action: List five negative ways of the fathers in your tradition. What will you do about them?