Passage of the Day - April 1, 2011

Zechariah 11:4-5

 ⁴Thus says the LORD my God, "Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter.

 ⁵"Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, 'Blessed be the LORD, for I have become rich!' And their own shepherds have no pity on them.

How heartbreaking it must have been for Zechariah to know that the destiny of those he was ministering and prophesying to were going to be destroyed.  Those who were charged with protecting and nurturing the Jewish people had no love for their people.  Instead of protecting them and nurturing them, they took the easy ways out and allowed the evil forces of sin and false gods to run rampant throughout the nation.  I'm assuming this sell out came with great prosperity.  However, their riches only bloated them while their core values began to rot.  They deteriorated from the inside out.  Their destruction was assured, but Zechariah was called to shepherd them anyway.

We can be called into the same positions.  This can happen in our country (oh, and I so believe it is), our church, our workplace, or even our family.  Even though these institutions we are involved in may be going down the same path, we are not to stick our heads in the sand, say good riddance, or wash our hands of it.  We are called to shepherd.  We are called to minister and to guide.  This country we live in is doomed due to a whole host of things causing our core to rot.  Even so, not all people are destined to go down with the ship.  God has provided spiritual life boats that can save people from the calamity this nation is facing.  We must help as many to get in the spiritual life boats and off the ship as we can.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (http://www.lockman.org/)