Daily Devotional

“You shall be holy men to Me” (Exodus 22:31). This is God’s statement to Moses, for all Israel. Such a command! We often see it as a performance call. Maybe an impossible call. But we are to look deeper.

The same God said of Israel, to the same people but much later in their history, “I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion” (Zechariah 1:14). This is not rules and laws. This is what a husband might say of his wife! This is love. It is union. It is oneness. This is holiness. And this is our call.

I wrote the following in my journal back in September last year, during an encounter with the Lord, coming off of a particularly difficult time:

At Thy side alone I am satisfied.
Questions silenced.
The way appearing before me, all covered with
Hope and a fulfilling future.
Things not fully explained, but Jesus the Way!
It is enough.

He pulls us into this kind of quietness. Contentment. Peace. In the light of His presence, all is revealed, even without words. All is clear. We join Him in holiness.

One of the simplest but most profound prayer requests I have seen on our Prayer Request sheet at Campus was posted by a woman I will call “Emma.” She said only, “Father – heal my mind and soul.” God alone is the One who can do this! And it is His very joy and delight to do so!

He spoke such sentiments through Zechariah, “The Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem” (Zechariah 1:17). “I will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst” (Zechariah 2:5).

This is the God who makes us holy! This is the God who is exceedingly jealous for our love and faithfulness! He will comfort every Emma! He will be a wall of fire around us as believers! He will be the glory in our midst, every day!

How does all this work? Zechariah declared that Branch was coming (Zechariah 3:8). That He would remove the iniquity of the land in one day (Zechariah 3:9). That Branch would build the temple (Zechariah 6:12). Branch is Jesus! He can heal the heart of an Emma in one day! Empower that same heart to love and serve.

God works through people to accomplish this, like a Zerubbabel, who was told, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6). Zerubbabel was the instrument of the Spirit (Zechariah 4:7–8).

We are the Zerubbabels of our day. Temple builders, working on human hearts. It is still not by might or power. It is still by God’s Spirit. We are all building the temple with Him one brick at a time. Bricks like Emma, with shouts of, “Grace, grace to it!”

(All Scripture passages quoted are NASB)

Read: Zechariah 1:12–4:13, 6:8–15, 8:1–23
Sing: There is a Fountain, by William Cowper