In the book of Zechariah I have come across an interesting moment where some people came to ask the priests and prophets a question.

The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the LORD by asking the priests of the house of the LORD Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

We find out in the next part that they had continued this practise for 70 years. I’m not sure why they felt the need to ask, but the presumption is that they started when Judah was taken into exile and their question is… “is exile over?” Do we still reed to mourn for Judah or not?

My gut is that they were surprised by the Lords response.

Then the word of the LORD Almighty came to me: “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? Zechariah 7:2-6

Ouch! I’m not sure they got the answer they wanted.

I feel the tension here. On one hand my inner religious self feels horrified that their discipline over 70, yes 70, years seems to have meant nothing. Surely the Lord would at least recognise their devotion. I think I would have been gutted.

On the other hand I totally understand the Lords response. I know in my own life I have carried out practises and disciplines that looked holy on the outside but were in truth totally or at least mostly self seeking. Only the Lord knows peoples hearts and the chances are that was the motivation of these people.

So what do we do?

We sort out our hearts. A discipline requires work but in the midst of the work lets humble our hearts before the Lord. Lets not be proud or entitled in the midst of it. Lets not do anything to get something back from God or gain a good reputation. Lets not do anything to gain attention but only to place our attention on him