When Pastor Paul heard that the church in Corinth was being dismissive and disrespectful to leadership, he wrote to them to address the issues that needed correcting. He did this not because he took delight in finding faults, but because he was accountable to God as a steward for the health of this church.

Yes, Paul was a servant—an errand boy for Jesus. But he was also a steward—responsible for something that wasn’t his (the church in Corinth). 

Like Paul, God has called us to be servants and has asked us to be His stewards of the things He has entrusted to our care. Here are some questions to think about as you meditate on your role as servant and steward in the areas God has called you to:

1. What has been entrusted to your care?
2. Who entrusted it to you?
3. Who are you accountable to?
4. What does it mean to be found faithful?
5. Why is it so important to be a servant-leader?
6. How are humility and honesty connected?
7. How can you serve Christ AND submit to others?

“I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
–Hosea 6:6

The Lord’s desire is for us to show love, not offer sacrifices. God would rather have right hearts, full of truth and mercy than sacrifice.

It repulses God when religious experts—those who know a lot about God—go through the motions of serving God with impenitent hearts towards God. No amount of religious razzle-dazzle on the outside could ever make up for the lack of reality on the inside. God desires mercy, not the sacrifices to cover sin without ever feeling sorry for or repenting of sin.

You can know a lot about the Lord and entirely miss knowing Him. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day demonstrated that. They knew a lot about God—but they missed the heart of God and focused on the wrong and superficial things. Loving your neighbor and genuinely knowing the Lord is more important to Him than knowing a lot about Him and treating others poorly. 

In light of this, can learn from the experience of those who are written about in Zechariah and heed the word of the Lord given to them:

“Execute true justice,
Show mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.”
–Zechariah 7:9-10

While in captivity in Babylon, the Jews continued to fast in the fifth month over the destruction of the temple. Now that a new temple was being built, a delegation returned to Jerusalem to ask the priests if they should continue a religious ritual they had instituted for the past 70 years.

But they were missing the bigger point. So the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. The Lord had a question for them—when you fasted, did you really fast for Me?

The focus they had on what they thought they should do revealed their impenitent hearts that no longer felt shame or regret about their actions or attitudes.

Watch our study of Zechariah 7 as we reviewed and reflected on God’s word.

No matter how bad this world gets, our King is coming. His kingdom will come and His will WILL be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 

Jesus is coming again! King Jesus—fully man and fully God—who saved us from our sin by becoming an offering for sin. 

This is the message that God has woven all throughout the Bible. And it’s the message that the world needs to hear. 

Jesus can save you from your sin right now if you will turn away from sin, look to Him, and trust Him today!

​In Zechariah 6, we read of two more visions Zechariah experienced. In these visions, Zechariah was shown not only the spiritual reality behind what was happening in his day and age, but he was also shown the spiritual reality of events far in the future.

Events like the time of tribulation that falls upon the whole world immediately before the second coming of Jesus Christ to rule and reign as king.

Though things today seem bleak, we can still have hope. Watch our study of Zechariah 6 as we remember that no matter how bad things get, our King is still coming!

“What do you see?” 

Zechariah was asked this question in his sixth vision. And what he saw was…a 15’ x 30’ flying scroll.

It’s important to remember that these visions were physical pictures that communicated spiritual truth. The angel explained the spiritual truth in this vision: the scroll represents the curse that goes out over all the earth. This curse has consequences—corruption and destruction because of sin. 

But this curse has been broken! Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” In John 3, Jesus points to a physical picture to understand this spiritual truth. 

There was a time when deadly snakes invaded the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness. Moses pleaded with the Lord to do something and the Lord commanded him to make a bronze serpent, to put it on a pole, and to lift it up. Anyone who was bit by a snake and looked to the bronze serpent would live. 

Jesus explained that this physical picture has a spiritual truth. Bronze is a symbol of judgment and the serpent is a symbol of sin. Lifting it on a pole is a picture of sin being judged for all to look to and live. 

On the cross, Jesus became a curse for us—He became sin so we could become the righteousness of God. All who look to Jesus will be saved—He has rescued us from the curse by becoming cursed for us!

“What do you see?” 

This is the question Zechariah is asked at the beginning of his sixth vision as recorded in Zechariah chapter 5. Each vision that Zechariah experienced was a peek behind the scenes to the spiritual reality, beyond what can be seen with physical sight.

The sixth and seventh visions Zechariah experienced are no exceptions. And what Zechariah saw was…a giant flying scroll and a woman in a basket.

As strange as that seems, God used these physical pictures to communicate spiritual truths. Watch our study of Zechariah 5 as we consider the meaning and significance of these visions.

“‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
–Zechariah 4:6

God’s work can only be done God’s way. It’s not enough to rely on God’s resources. We must also reject what resources we think we bring to the table. No amount of human might, power, intellect, or ingenuity can accomplish God’s agenda. 

The Apostle Paul learned this the hard way. There was perhaps no one with more might or power than Saul (meaning “desired one”) before he became Paul (meaning “little one”). Saul didn’t change his name immediately after getting saved. He had to go through years of heavy humbling before he eventually became Paul. 

Just like Paul, we need to learn how to be completely reliant on God’s resources while simultaneously rejecting man’s resources (see 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). 

When all of your effort and ingenuity only seem to make the problems you face problem worse, remember that it’s not by might or by power, but by God’s Spirit that God’s work is accomplished.  God may just be trying to lead you to the end of your resources and the beginning of His as you rely only on His Holy Spirit.

​Have you ever faced a mountain of a problem with no success that you’ve felt like a failure? Maybe you’ve tried everything to solve it—all of your might, power, and strength—but that mountain of a problem stubbornly remains. And all of your effort and ingenuity only seem to make the problem worse.

But when you come to the end of your limited human might, power, intellect, and ingenuity and begin to rely solely upon God’s Holy Spirit and God’s grace that the mountain of a problem miraculously begins to move. 

This was God’s encouragement to Zerubabbel in Zechariah 4. God is graciously willing to help when we truly humble ourselves and admit that God’s work must be done in God’s way—not by our might or by our power.