Read: Ezra 9, Nehemiah 1, 2
Ezra found out that the leaders had led the people in marrying women outside their faith. These wives had caused the men to worship their idols. The news devastated Ezra so that all he could do was sit and pull his hair out. I know how that feels as we have battled for our family this year.
Ezra prayed and repented for his people and took the guilt of what they had done on himself. His act of humility drew others to join him in prayer and repentance. They agreed to divorce their pagan wives and make a new covenant with the Lord.
They called all the men throughout Israel and commanded them to report to Jerusalem. If the didn’t they would forfeit all their property and be expelled from the assembly of the exiles. Everyone came and divorced their pagan wives and made a new covenant with the Lord.
The pagan wives are a picture of our covenants with sin. Our pagan wives come in the form of addictions and strongholds in our lives. The only way to rid ourself of them is to divorce them and make a new covenant with the Lord. It sounds too easy, but it is just that simple. If they could do it, we can too.
They also sent the children away with the wives. These children represent the smaller sins that accompany the addictions and strongholds that we have. We have to have a renewed mind and start thinking differently.
Then we have to rebuild the walls around our heart like Nehemiah was sent to do in Jerusalem. Theses walls stand for salvation, the Word of God, the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, and our praise and worship. These are the tools we use to build back the walls of our defense against the enemy. We need to make our gates holy. Our gates are our ears, eyes, mouth and heart. We may need to change who we listen to, what we watch on T.V., what radio station we tune into, how we live our lives and our thought patterns.
Lord, you have given us all we need to be holy and righteous. Help us to appropriate your provision.
No comments:
Post a Comment