Purposed Heart
“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Ezra 7:10 nkjv
The nation of Israel are back in the land after spending 70 years in captivity at Babylon. God had promised that they would eventually come back home once the land rested from their idolatry. It was during this span of time we get Esther, Daniel, Zecharaiah, Haggai and Ezra and others. Ezra was a scribe, a sort of lawyer of Judisim, he was highly educated. It was said of Ezra that he was a “priest” who had God-given wisdom in the Law of the God of heaven” (Ezra 7:21). He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of King Artaxerxes of Persia.
When Ezra was in Babylon, in the world, in captivity, he was busy. He wasnt busy with toys and hobbies and wasted time in vein imaginations. Ezra was purposful, intentional with the time and privledges that he had. Just like Daniel it said that he “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the kings delicacies.” (Daniel 1:8) Ezra had resolved and purposed his heart to seek the Word of God. He studied it, meditated on upon it, searched it out. Like the prophet Jeremiah it says, “Your Words were found and I ate them. And Your Word was to me the joy and the rejoicing of mine heart.” Jeremiah 15:16 These mighty men were mighty because they took the Word of God seriously and made it an important part of their lives. Ezra had spent years in Gods Word and one day God was going to use him for a mighty purpose.
But it isn't enough just to read the Word of God. Reading will serve no purpose for the reader if the Word of God is not applied to their lives. Not only did Ezra know the Word, but he also practiced it. He put all that God had to say pertaining to life into real-life practical application. Without application, there is no growth. Without application, the Word of God serves no purpose for the individual. The practice of God's Word and obedience to it is what made these men mighty in the Lord. So many Christians can quote verses and draw them out like a gun. But do they practice it? We say in the church that the church has lost its effectiveness in the world. It is not that the Word is of no effect, it is that those proclaiming it are not applying it first to themselves. Not Ezra, he knew God's Law and obeyed God's Law. Jesus would later declare in John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” If we profess to love the Lord then we should obey the Word of the Lord. The religious elite of Jesus day knew God's Word like Ezra but He found that their hearts were far from God. He said again in John 5:39, “You search (study) the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they (scriptures) which testify of Me.” It’s not enough to know His Word, you have to know Him and obey Him.
Ezra was a man who knew God's Word, obeyed God's Word, and desired as the verse says, “to teach” God's Word. The Lord told us in what is called the Great Commission “Therefore go and make disciples…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20) This commission is still applicable today to the church as it was. Ezra purposed in his heart that he would teach his people all that he learned from God's Word. He would show them how God blesses His children when they obey Him. With obedience comes incredible blessing, something that their ancestors failed to do and caused their captivity in Babylon all these past 70 years. Any future judgment would be stopped if they heard the Word, obeyed the Word, and taught their children the Word. God sets before us life and death as Duet. says, if we read, and obey we will find life. I pray we would all be like Ezra, like Daniel, to learn the Word, Obey the Word and Teach the Word, so that we too can find life.
Agape
Frank
