Zechariah 7: 8-14 "What do I expect of you, O Man?

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.’

¹¹ “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. ¹² They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry.

¹³ “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty. ¹⁴ ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”

In these verses, God is questioning the inner motives of his people. Jesus brings the same message at the Sermon on the Mount. These verses are re-stating what has already been spoken through the prophet Micah. "What do I expect of you O man? You should love justice, be kind, and walk humbly before your God."

Daily Prayer: Father, man is so self-centered, that even his good works are tainted with credit to himself. When we pray to you, we should pray to you in truth and in spirit. When we live our lives that you have given us, we should walk in dependence on you, acknowledging all we are and all we have and all we will ever be is a gift from God. It is in his name I pray Amen.