Ezra: The Lord HelpsSample

I begin many days looking at my diary and thinking that I have an impossible task ahead of me. I wonder how meetings with people about tough situations could ever turn out well. I’m not a pessimist; in fact, I’m quite an optimistic person. My despair comes from a realistic assessment of the human heart. As most of the time I struggle to live the way I should, how will I ever persuade someone else to do so?! The answer is here in verses 5 and 6. 

A significant change in the hearts of people requires the mighty work of God. In verse 5 God moves in the hearts of His people so that they are prepared to make huge sacrifices for Him. 

It’s the second time in this chapter that we have read of God moving hearts. First God moved the heart of Cyrus (v. 1). Now God is moving the hearts of His people to get them literally moving. 

When the people of Judah were first carted off to Babylon in 605 BC, far from home and against their will, it would have been agony for them. But now, 70 years later, Babylon has become home. Cyrus is promoting religious tolerance and has an excellent human rights record. Living in Babylon is a very comfortable option. 

So to leave Babylon in order to relocate to Jerusalem is a really big ask. It means uprooting family; sorting out school places; getting to know new neighbors; leaving behind everything that is familiar. On top of all that, when they arrive in Jerusalem, they will be faced with the really hard work of rebuilding the temple. For God’s people to be prepared to do that, God must move their hearts. 

But repairing the temple was crucial because it was the only means, through sacrifice, that people could meet God. When God moves our hearts and impresses upon us the gospel, we too will see the importance of building the church. The sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus Christ is the only way through which people can know Him. The church is the primary vehicle through which the gospel is to be proclaimed. 

Christians are needed to go to other parts of the world, to the tough areas of their own nation, and into their neighborhood in order to build the church. But giving yourself to that work is costly. It will mean personal sacrifice. We’ll only live a life of costly sacrifice if God moves our hearts. 

Reflection

Pray that the Lord would move in your heart, giving you a desire to see the church built. Ask that you would be prepared to go wherever needed, no matter what the personal cost and sacrifice.