Verse of the Day 7/24

Ezra 7:10  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.  New King James Version (NKJV)

We've been considering God's calling in our lives and our responsibility in what we are to do.  We've considered some of the apostles but the actions of a God follower, a Christ follower hold true in the Old Testament as well as today.  In the book of Ezra God did His work through Ezra, the "true and faithful scribe" who won the confidence of a pagan king and had influence on him to see to the rebuilding of the temple.

He sought the Lord,  had the attitude to just "do it"- follow His leading and to teach what he had learned to others.  This gave him influence with the people of Israel but also to those in the society of where he lived, right up to the king.  He was an authentic follower.

John MacArthur writes, "The pattern of Ezra's preparation is exemplary.  He studied before he attempted to live a life of obedience, and he studied and practiced the law in his own life before he opened his mouth to teach the law.  But the success of Ezra's leadership did not come from his strength alone, but most significantly because "the good hand of God was on him."

I'm sure that we'd all like to have someone say about us that the "good hand of God was on us".  If we follow Ezra's pattern it will be so and we will have an influence on others "to live God's truth and ways. "   Study, live, teach.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Ezra 7:6-10The Message (MSG)

^6-7 That's Ezra. He arrived from Babylon, a scholar well-practiced in the Revelation of Moses that the God of Israel had given. Because God's hand was on Ezra, the king gave him everything he asked for. Some of the Israelites—priests, Levites, singers, temple security guards, and temple slaves—went with him to Jerusalem. It was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

^8-10 They arrived at Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king's reign. Ezra had scheduled their departure from Babylon on the first day of the first month; they arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month under the generous guidance of his God. Ezra had committed himself to studying the Revelation of God, to living it, and to teaching Israel to live its truths and ways.