Removed

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo. (Zechariah 1:7)

For some reason, this time, the exact date matters. Not only that but the name of the month also matters. Why? Well, the name refers to the rains that often come in that month in that region, as the ground is 'struck' by the torrents of water. It is also the month when some trees first come into flower, almost as if we are to imagine Zechariah walking through the rain and seeing a flowering tree, and then God speaks. It is undoubtedly true that God speaks through our everyday experiences, stopping us in our tracks in wonder at the beauties around us, and telling us of his glory, the glory of the one behind it all.

Something a little like this happened to me as I walked across the Galata Bridge in Istanbul just last week. I looked up and saw the enormous bulk of the Hagia Sofia on the skyline, and tears started to fall. What must have the Christians have done to deserved such treatment, that the greatest church in all the world be taken and turned into a place of worship for their conquerors? But of course I knew. The seven churches of Revelation were in what is now modern Turkey. 

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."

And He did. And that's quite a warning.



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