Zechariah 7:4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “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? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? 7 Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’”
Since the fall of mankind, selfishness has become human nature, and the supremacy of interests has become a common phenomenon in human society. People always hope to obtain the greatest benefit at the least cost. Therefore, the world is full of all kinds of falsehoods.
When I was young, my father told us a story: There were two families living next to each other, and the little birds built nests under their roofs; a young bird fell from the nest, and the family on the left saw it first, but did not take action; when another family saw it, they picked up the little bird, bandaged the wound, and put it back in the nest; the next year, the little bird brought them a gold gourd; Then the family on the left stayed at home and waited for the bird to fall, but there was no bird falling after that, so they took a bamboo pole and knocked a little bird down. Then, they They also learned to dress up the little bird like their neighbors, and put it back in their nest; the next year, they looked forward to the bird picking up a gold gourd for them, but the little bird picked up a ball of dung for them.
God rebuked the Israelites and said: In the past seventy years, you fasted and sorrowed in May and July. Did you really fast to me? You eat and drink, don’t you eat for yourself and drink for yourself? ?When Jerusalem and the surrounding cities are prospering, and the southern plateau is inhabited, shouldn’t you listen to what the Lord has announced through the prophets?
How beautiful and godly is it to fast regularly? But God still has to blame them, because their good deeds are false, and their piety is entirely for themselves and has nothing to do with God.
The core doctrine of Christianity is “justification by faith.” However, in order to minimize the cost of faith, many people simplify the meaning of “faith”. They define “faith” as verbal faith and festivals, and wipe out the love for the truth and the practice of the truth. Which is the lower cost of observing festivals and practicing the truth? Obviously it is the former. As long as you participate in the festival during the observance, you only need to participate in the faith for one week at most, but the practice of the truth is different. The goal of the practice of the truth is to live in the faith all the time.
Those who simplify “belief”, they participate in worship not to love the God of truth, but to go to heaven. However, they ignored one point, that is, there is no heaven without the presence of the truth and God. Therefore, it is foolish to treat faith in a secular way; they are also foolish if they want to spend the least price in exchange for the greatest blessing. Because God is not human, He will not be deceived by humans, and the false beauty and false devotion cannot escape the eyes of God.
Source: kyhs.net