LET IT GO
Opening Prayer
Lord, I have regrets… Help me to leave them right here, right now.
Read Zechariah 1:1–6
A Call to Return to the Lord
1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
2 “The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. 4 Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?
“Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.’”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What do you regret?God’s people had returned home from exile, but they remained under the rule of a foreign king (1). In addition, the Babylonian names in their calendar (Shebat, 7) were a reminder of their subjugation and of the sins of the past which had brought this about. But the heritage of their forebears’ disobedience does not determine their present. Your past does not automatically dictate your future. It can be hard to throw off influences, mindsets or habits we have inherited – but they are not the final word about us.
There is an opportunity to return to the Lord with the sure response that “I will return to you” (3). But the opportunity is time limited. The people’s ancestors had gone to the grave (5), and so will we. They refused to listen to God’s Word and it overtook them (6) like a police officer bringing down a thief fleeing the scene. There is no escape from accountability to God.
What does returning to the Lord involve? It means genuine repentance – an open, full disclosure of what we’ve done, accepting God’s right to hold us to account (6). No excuses, no blaming of anyone in our past. Just “Have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13).
Apply
Do you need to return to the Lord? Is there an area of your life that you need to hand over to God? Your past does not define you – God guarantees a new and secure future.
Closing prayer
My God, I return to You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
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