What have we been doing?

As we get ready to start a new year, let's ask ourselves one very important question: "Why have we been doing the things we do?" (I'm referring to our spiritual lives, our church life, our serving and working in the kingdom.) Why do we do what we do? In Zechariah 7, the people of Bethel have sent messengers to Zechariah to ask him a very important question. The question: "Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple's destruction, as we have done for so many years?" Seems like a very good question. I mean these people have been getting together to fast and pray, to remember the destruction of the place of God's presence among His people. Wow, they are so faithful and they want to know if they should keep it up or is there something else that they should be doing? Sounds pretty legit to me.
But then I read on and wow, it hit me in the face of what I or we as a church have been doing this past year, this past decade and on. In verse 5, God says to ask the people: "During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in the aryl autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting? And even now in your holy festivals, aren't you eating and drinking just to please yourselves?" Wow! God comes off the top rope to hit the real issue. Haven't all these festivals, weeks of fasting and praying - hasn't it really been about you? When you come to church on Sundays, when you serve or get involved in a family group - has it been about God or has it been about yourself? Has it been about loving God or loving yourselves and hoping to impress God and/or others so that they will think that you are spiritual and worthy of great blessings from God? What has it all been about?
You see, in church and in our private spiritual lives, it's not about the fasting or the serving - it's about loving God and thus we serve, we give, we sacrifice, we share of His love because we have experienced the true love of God. How about 2012, we focus on loving God first, then we will see that our rituals and traditions are there to enhance our lives, not to make them worthy of God! Love God, love others, serve the world!