The birds never fail to sing early in the morning. They are as constant as my alarm clock. Fascinating.
Every morning, I bite off a chunk of hope and life, making a bridge that joins a thinking which was inaccessible for me before.
Reading a section in a book called Zechariah this morning leads me to another bridge. Contextually around 520 BC, the Persians have defeated the Babylonians, and Cyrus II and later Darius decide that Israelites should return to their land and in fact the Persians would pay for the rebuilding of the temple.
In Zechariah chapter two there is a passage that refers to the coming of The Christ, it says that He is coming to live in our midst. It follows, and many nations will join the lord and become my people, I will live among you.
What if more attractive and significant than any evangelical outreach programme, more effective than any presentation or speakers corner session is to live among a community and model hope. What Israel saw as a dark time, living in exile in Babylon, could have been an era when a people of hope lived that life amongst the rest of the world.
Cyrus, Darius, Alexander, Ptolemy Philadelphus, Augustus, and Tiberius ALL paid respect to the temple by sending offerings. Persian Empire, Greek Empire and Roman Empire moved by the hope and consistency of a people and their relationship with God.
When Zechariah writes of many nations, I can see the uncomplicated way. Be different. Be radical. Be true. Choose Life. Life attracts life. Hope begets a community of belief.
