“…and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.” Ezra 3:2b
I pray that as you experience seasons of drifting from the Lord, that you return. A simple prayer of you humbly realizing your departure, and as a result, your need to humbly return. The world can and will have that effect on us. As we live in a dark world it is implausible to think that some of the darkness will not find a place to reside within our hearts. Like a coal miner after a long shift in the mines, the coal dust will permeate, a layer of fine black silt covering who we truly are in Christ. But it doesn’t mean we are to stay that way. We are to daily cleanse off the darkness of this world in the light of Jesus Christ. Just as the beautiful story of the prodigal son narrates, God is always ready to welcome those that have strayed; for God is full of forgiveness, patience, love and is ever so slow to anger. In the books of Kings and Chronicles we saw countless evil Israelite kings lead the people into idolatry, the worship of false gods, and the rampant sins that followed both. Because of their disobedience we eventually saw God move in judgement. After countless unheeded warning from His prophets, God allowed the Babylonians to conquer and take His beloved people into slavery. In the book of Ezra, we see the freed Jews returning to Jerusalem, and as they do, we see the definition of a humble return to God. They return to a city that was laid to waste. They returned to their homes that had been pillaged and destroyed. They returned to a Jerusalem that no longer had the glorious temple of Solomon in which to worship God. They returned to nothing. Being in slavery for 70 years and then returning to this sight must have been so very dis-heartening. And on top of this, out of an estimated 2 million Israelites in Babylonian captivity, only 50,000 chose to return, a miniscule 2%. It seems the majority of hearts knew of the struggles that laid ahead of them and instead they chose to ironically remain in the comfort and safety of their slavery. So as the 2% humbly return to the land God had given them, where do they start? They start at the beginning. They start by doing what the Almighty Word of God commands them. They first built an altar and they offered daily atoning sacrifices for their sins, just as God commanded. They appointed Levite priests to care for the altar, just as God commanded. They observed the Holy festivals, just as God commanded. They started rebuilding the temple of God, and as they did, they worshiped him in songs sang from the heart. And we’re told they did it “as one man.” A people united in God. A people returned humbly to God, and they did it by returning humbly to the commands of His Holy Words. They returned to truth. If you ever find yourself feeling far from God because of sin and pride in your life, it’s because you have moved, not Him. It’s time for a humble return. A return to a daily study of His Word. A return to not just reading it but studying it and doing exactly what it says. A return to embracing truth in your life, real truth, not what the world panders as truth. You see, the hearts of men and women are built to feed on truth and there is only one place in this world where you can feast on it in purity…the never changing Word of Almighty God. May the hearts of this world that yearn for truth, humbly return to the Word of God.
“Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7
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