Zechariah 7

I had a fantastic weekend with a group of friend from uni and one of the main things we did was to do a few studies on Zechariah. The study i was leading was on chapter 7. The Message heads the chapter: God says 'You care about religion, I care about people' and I think that is a very apt summary of the chapter. I thought i'd record an analogy I used to describe the importance of what we call 'religion' in the life of a believer.

When you are about to participate in a sports event (eg football match, marathon) It is really important to warm up. If you dont then your performance will be worse, and as the going gets tougher you are likely to injure yourself in a way which puts you out of the event. The warm-up is critical, yet no-one is watching - and it is of no use if you then dont participate in the event!

I think Religion is like the warm-up to life. Reading the Bible. Praying. Going to church. Worshipping with others. Fasting. It's all just the warm-up to life - critical but pointless without the event.

So what is the parallel to the match? I think Zechariah makes it quite clear: "Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one-another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In you hearts do not think evil of your brother."

The game of life is LOVE. The royal law found in scripture 'Love you neighbour as yourself'... James the Apostle's words not mine! God tells us to love one-another. But he says to love out of love for him - and that is where the religion comes in. When we're loving God we will actively love people.

Lets keep doing the religious stuff - but remembering that it is the warm up to the real game which is living lives of love. As Uncle L.T. put it: 'there is no holiness without relationallity.'