Read Ezra 10:1-14 (Focus verses 13b-14) But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this matter cannot be taken care of in a day or two, because we have sinned greatly in this thing. Let our officials act for the whole assembly.
That was a long Old Testament read, huh? If you asked me where my morning devotions come from, the simple answer would be “God”. The long answer is I pray for a word or idea, something pops in my head, then I dig out my Bible and research it. Today’s word was actually rain. I thought we’d talk about Noah and the great flood. You know the story. The world was full of sin. People had turned from God. He decided the earth needed a big old bubble bath to clean it up so flooded the earth and cleaned it up. But as I dove into my quiet time with God, I came across this Old Testament scripture, and I read, “But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside,” and I thought, that sounds kind of like our situation right now. Lol. But I dove a little deeper and read it in context, and then it really started sounding familiar. Not the part about marrying foreign women, but definitely the part about sinning against God. Ezra, the priest, was literally on the ground, crying, confessing, and praying because the people had turned from God. There was sin in the land, and the people had to confess and turn from the sin so that they could be right with God.
We are in a totally different situation currently, and Old Testament readings sometimes seem hard to understand and outdated to us. In reality, there is still important wisdom in Old Testament books. We can learn about what is right and wrong in the eyes of God. God doesn’t like it when we sin. He especially doesn’t like it when we turn away from Him. Our nation has turned so far from Him that it’s time for us to get on our knees, weep, and pray and acknowledge that we’ve sinned and run back to the loving arms of Christ. God desires an up close and personal relationship with each of us. I think He is trying to get our attention right now! Let’s get on our knees!
Inspirations from the Funny Farm 