The WHY? Game

Have you ever played "The WHY? Game"?  It only requires two players… an adult and a kid.  The adult says something.  The kid says, "Why?"  The adult answers with a reason.  The kid says, "Why?"  This goes on indefinitely until the adult says, "BECAUSE I SAID SO!  GAME OVER!"

There's another form of "The WHY? Game" that requires a human and God.  In this version, the human says or does something that seems like the right thing to say or do.  And God says, "Why?"  However, unlike the child who wants to see how long he can make the game last, God wants a final answer and will often back us into a corner until we produce an honest one.  What He's really after is a clear confession of our motivation.

That's what He was after in Zechariah 7:5-6 – "Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?  And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?'"  The "past seventy years" refers to the time of Israel's captivity in Babylon.  It's clear that, while in the pagan land, some of God's people continued to observe certain religious traditions of Judaism.  Now that they were returning to their homeland, God asked them, "Why did you do that?"

The right answer would seem to be, "We did it to honor You, Lord, even among the pagans."  And while many of the exiles may have sincerely felt that way, God knew that the ultimate motivation was not worship, but self-preservation.  "If we do this, maybe God will finally let us go home."

How easy it is to do the right things for reasons that aren't necessarily wrong… but also aren't necessarily pure or best.  How many of us serve God – "professionally" or "volunteer" – because it's what's expected of us?  because we get joy from it?  because we want to experience God's blessings?  because, because, because…  These may not all be bad reasons.  But I think they all leave us one answer short of satisfactorily completing God's version of "The WHY? Game."

When I can truly say, "Lord, I did (this or that) FOR YOU… because I love You… because You're worthy… because Your glory is the desire of my heart," then I'm a step farther down the right track.  It's almost impossible to do anything with completely pure and selfless motivation.  But that's what God wants from us.  So don't stop asking "Why? until you're as close to the final answer as you can get!