Zechariah 7

“Was it for Me that you fasted?” (v5). When the returned exiles inquired of the priests and prophets about fasting, God reminded them that Israel’s earlier fasts had been empty religious rituals. They had done it to make themselves feel righteous, but God wanted them instead to change their behavior: “Show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart” (9-10).

When pride and self-righteousness make our hearts “diamond-hard” (12), our religious activities are worthless. God calls us to be tender-hearted toward Him and quick to show mercy to those around us.