SCRIPTURE: Zechariah 7
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? [Zechariah 7:5-6]
When you sing worship songs, is it really for the Lord that you sing?
When you put money in the collection plate, is it really for the Lord that you give?
When you do your devotions, is it really for the Lord that you devote that time?
When you got to church, is it really for the Lord that you go?
When we do whatever religious activities we do, is it really for the Lord, or is it for ourselves?

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. [Matthew 6:16-18]
Jesus challenges the religious leaders about giving, praying and fasting [Matthew 6:1-18], suggesting that it is more for themselves (for the attention that they get).
They are very religious, but their hearts are not focused on God.
It’s about themselves, their needs, their advantage, their feelings, what they like or what they want or what they get out of it.
Think about how people think about church, how they decide when and where to go to church – what they like or what they want or what they get out of it.

‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty. [Zechariah 7:13]
God wants to get close to us, to have a personal relationship with us.
But if we are more wrapped up in ourselves, God cannot get in.
Therefore He remains apart, and the result is that the people feel far from God.
Since they do not listen when He calls, He will not listen when they call.
God is not interested in our religious activity; He wants us to be devoted to Him, to spend time alone with Him, to live our lives for Him.
All our religious activity will be empty and meaningless apart from this.
Singing will not satisfy you, sermons will not speak to you, giving will not bless you, church will not ‘work’ for you.
Check you heart in this; do you feel that God is missing in your life?
Maybe it’s because you have been missing from God’s life.

PRAYER:
Lord, as long as I am just going through the motions (of prayer, worship, giving, serving), but not actually relating personally to you, my religion will be empty.