Mon.’s Devo - The List of the Forgiven

Read: Ezra 10:1-44; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20; Psalm 31:9-18; Proverbs 21:3 Ezra lay on the ground in front of the Temple repenting for the sins of the people. Some of the guilty joined him and also repented. They asked him to help them right their wrong. Ezra gave the people three days to come to Jerusalem and meet to talk abut the situation. They met in the pouring rain. Ezra explained their sin of marrying strange wives and told them what they must do. They all agreed but also agreed that it would take some time because so many of them were guilty and it was the rainy season. Two priests and two Levites were appointed to help them perform the divorce ceremony and write out provisions for the wives. It took three months to finish the task, but they were done by the first of the first month of Nissan. They offered trespass offerings for their sins. The list of the guilty were written in the book. Some of them even had children adding to the severity of their sin. They got everything put in order right before Passover so they could celebrate it with freedom. Once they were atoned for their names were remembered for their faithful repentance, not their sin. In Corinthians, Paul rebuked them for bringing their fellow Christians to a courtroom to try a case when they should have settled this outside of the law with grace and forgiveness. He even went so far as to say, ‘why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that?’ instead of fighting for your rights. Now, that is something to think about. He was saying that maybe we should just allowed ourselves to be wronged by a fellow believer and forgive them. Instead, he told them that they were the ones doing the injustice to others. Paul reminded them that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Then he gave a list of others who would not inherit the kingdom of God, reminding them that they were once in this group but shouldn’t be in it now that they have been saved. He gave them the opportunity, like Ezra to change their names from the list of sin to the list of forgiven and righteousness. Paul explained the effects of sexual sin. It not only affects your spiritual soul but your body. Our bodies are to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit and God paid a high price for us…His son, so we must honor God with our body. Lord, help us not to get lured into the apathy of the world in terms of sin and especially sexual sin. Help us to remember that we are married to you in our spirits and have divorced the world. May we stay faithful and in love with you. Thank you that you forgive us and write our names in your Book of the Forgiven and Saved.