Zechariah 1:3
Have you ever made a wrong turn in traffic? Did you lose time with the error? Could you potentially become lost? If you have a GPS system that helps you find your way, it is much easier to stay on the chosen path. Moreover, if you make a wrong turn along the way, you may hear a voice say something like, “Wrong turn; recalculating your route.” Or maybe something like, “Make a U-turn at the next available intersection.” The idea is to let you know, immediately, that you are on the wrong course heading in the wrong direction. The sooner you correct the course, the fewer delays you have and the quicker you return to where you should be. The same is true in a Christian’s life. God has a plan (a course) for you to take. When you detour from that plan, it can cause you to lose time, or potentially become way off course. In the Old Testament, God often sent prophets to remind the people of God’s Word, to turn them around and put them back on the correct course (the plan God had for them).
When God’s people were allowed to return home after the seventy years of captivity in Babylon, they once again needed to be reminded to turn back to God. See some of the prophet’s words from the Lord to the Israelites: “2. The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. 4. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. 5. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? 6. But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us” (Zechariah 1:2-6)
Today, we are privileged to own our personal copies of God’s Word, the Bible. It is our responsibility to read our Bible, daily, to stay on the path God has for our lives. He is not going to send a prophet to you personally to remind you of what He has told you to do. Each Christian is to read their Bible to remember what God has told them to do according to His Word.
The Israelites still failed to do what God asked them to do. They needed reminding – just as we often do.
The following is a quick check list to consider how you are doing:
- Do you have Jesus in your heart?
- Do you read your Bible daily?
- Do you obey what it says in God’s Word?
- Do you realize when you are doing wrong?
- Do you correct your course when you recognize you have detoured from what God has planned for you?
Answering these questions will help you look at your own heart and life. God does – daily. Remember Job 7:17-18: “17. What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? 18. And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?” The word try here means “to test; to investigate, to examine, prove.”
God loves those who belong to Him. He checks on you each day (much like a loving parent checks on a child) to see how you are doing.
How are you doing?
Are you keeping your life on the course God has planned for you?