Tues.’s Devo - Judging Ourselves

Read: Ezra 8:21-9:15; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 21:1-2 Ezra led a huge party of people out of Babylon to go and take the gold and silver and more of the treasures of the Temple back to Jerusalem. They would be traveling across dangerous land full of robbers and thieves but because they had told the king that their God protected all who worshipped him, Ezra was too ashamed to ask for soldiers to accompany him. Instead they held a fast to ask God to give them safe passage. God heard their prayer and protected them all the way. Twelve leaders had been appointed to carry the precious metals and when they arrived in Jerusalem it was all accounted for. They rested for three days then took everything to the Temple and gave it to Meremoth, Eleazar and Jozabad and Noadiah. They offered sacrifices and presented 12 bulls, 96 rams, 77 male lambs, and 12 goats to the Lord. They delivered the king’s decree to all the high officials of the land who cooperated in supporting their cause. The leaders came to Ezra and told him that the people had not stayed pure in their worship to the Lord and had joined in the pagan worship of all the people of the lands around them. They had married their women and given their daughters in marriage to their men. The holy race of the Israelites had been polluted. Ezra was utterly outraged and appalled. He sat in shock until the eventing sacrifice then he appeared before the people and offered a prayer of intense repentance for the sins of his nation. He repented of the continual cycle of sin his people chose to stay in and prayed God would forgive them once again. Paul was facing a similar problem in Corinth. A man in the church was sleeping with his step-mother and the people were proud that they were loving and accepting it. Instead, they needed to remove the man from their fellowship. We are called to judge one another in the family of God. Paul had already passed judgment on him. He told them to call a meeting of the church and throw the man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature would be destroyed and he would be saved on the day of judgment. If they didn’t get rid of him and make a spectacle of him, his sin would be like yeast and it would spread throughout the church. Paul had already told them not to associate with people who indulged in sexual sin in the church. In the world, people are always doing this kind of thing, but it cannot be allowed in the church. Paul concluded that it is not our job to judge those outside the church but it is our job to judge those inside it. Lord, may we be bold enough to judge the sins of the Body of Christ but may we start with ourselves. Forgive us of accepting sin because it is political correct. Help us to stand for righteousness.