WEBVTT

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Day 268, or September the 25th. Hands together,

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eyes closed. Our thoughts today come from Zechariah

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chapter 7, verses 11 and 12. But they refused

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to pay attention. Stubbornly they turned their

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backs and covered their ears. They made their

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hearts as hard as flint and would not listen

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to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty

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has sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.

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And now the big picture surrounding these verses.

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Zechariah moves on from visions to verbals as

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he continues to try to teach the people of Judah

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what God wants them to know. He condemns hypocrisy

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and disobedience, and reminds his hearers that

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they must listen, otherwise they will never know

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what God requires. After the negative, he comes

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to the positive, and reminds everyone that the

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future is bright for those who trust God. After

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the calamity of the exile, God was as good as

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his word and brought them back to the promised

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land. Now that the temple is almost complete,

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the hard physical work is over, and Messiah's

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coming is certain. And now today's action step.

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It's hard to believe that these verses today

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are referring to adult people, isn't it? You

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can almost hear them singing, la la la, I'm not

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listening. I clearly recall waiting outside school

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to collect our grandchildren one day and hearing

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the different approaches of parents with their

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children. Some spoke to them quietly and the

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children responded. Others spoke loudly and the

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child didn't seem to hear. The volume was cranked

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up but still the child didn't seem to hear. They

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had to be physically touched before contact was

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made. God is telling Zechariah that the people

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he is addressing truly are the children of Israel.

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I wonder if the instructions that we have all

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heard many times, particularly at school assemblies,

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is more practical than we ever suspected. When

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we place our hands together, we can't block up

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our ears. Why not spend just one minute now listening

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to see what God has to say to you? Hands together,

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eyes closed.