Contemplative Bible Reading

Zechariah 7:8-10

⁸ And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: ⁹ “This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. ¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

He was a good friend of mine in high school. We lost touch as high school friends often do.  Then I learned of what he had done to his mother.

He wanted to buy something, but had no credit. People who give their lives to alcohol tend to lose all credit with lenders. He pestered his mother until she signed her house to him as collateral for the loan. The result was what people expected.

He defaulted on his loan, and his mother lost her home.

I wanted to find him and hit him in the head with a board. Perhaps that is how the LORD felt as he spoke through the prophet Zechariah. His people

• were unjust towards one another
• showed no mercy
• had no compassion
• oppressed widows and orphans and the poor
• plotted evil against one another

What makes it all worse is that these people were family. They all descended from the sons of Jacob; they were all cousins as  They were doing just as my former high school friend had – they were swindling members of their own family.

The LORD sort of hit them in the head with a board. How? He left them alone. He left them to their own resources. He let them suffer the natural consequences of their actions.

They simply got what they deserved.

Today, God let’s us have what we deserve unless we choose otherwise. We can escape our just desserts by accepting His grace.