R³ Devotional - Day 260
R³ Devotional - Day 260 - Ezra 1-3
By: Daniel Arguijo
A miracle! Something that we would have never expected, but God had already planned! A pagan king, Cyrus the king of Persia, was stirred by the Lord so that the prophecy made by Jeremiah might be fulfilled (Ezra 1:1). Now the Israelites who had been in exile for 70 years were going to return to their land.
Chapter 1 of Ezra shows us that even the most powerful rulers of the world surrender to our almighty God. God is sovereign, and he is always in control of our lives. Chapter 2 gives us details of how the people of Israel came back, led by Zerubbabel, in the first return from their exile. The second and third were led by Ezra and Nehemiah, respectively.
But today, I want to focus on chapter 3 of Ezra. As they returned to Jerusalem, the first thing they did was to build the altar of God to offer burnt offerings on it (vs 3-5). This offering was usually used as an offering for the sins they had committed. If we go back, they were sent into exile because they did not follow God’s commands, and instead they decided to live a life far away from him.
After all this time in exile they understood what they had done, and the first thing they did was to come and restore that relationship with God. I’ve always looked at Israel as a mirror for what we are as believers nowadays. When we go far away from God, probably making bad decisions that have not only affected our lives but also others, the first thing we need to do before even trying to restore everything in our lives is to restore our relationship with the Father.
As chapter 3 finishes, we see how they have restored their relationship with God and start to rebuild the temple, they rejoice in the Lord as they saw the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. They are ready to start their relationship with him again.
Real: Life Principles
Chapter 1 of Ezra shows us that even the most powerful rulers of the world surrender to our almighty God. God is sovereign, and he is always in control of our lives. Chapter 2 gives us details of how the people of Israel came back, led by Zerubbabel, in the first return from their exile. The second and third were led by Ezra and Nehemiah, respectively.
But today, I want to focus on chapter 3 of Ezra. As they returned to Jerusalem, the first thing they did was to build the altar of God to offer burnt offerings on it (vs 3-5). This offering was usually used as an offering for the sins they had committed. If we go back, they were sent into exile because they did not follow God’s commands, and instead they decided to live a life far away from him.
After all this time in exile they understood what they had done, and the first thing they did was to come and restore that relationship with God. I’ve always looked at Israel as a mirror for what we are as believers nowadays. When we go far away from God, probably making bad decisions that have not only affected our lives but also others, the first thing we need to do before even trying to restore everything in our lives is to restore our relationship with the Father.
As chapter 3 finishes, we see how they have restored their relationship with God and start to rebuild the temple, they rejoice in the Lord as they saw the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. They are ready to start their relationship with him again.
Real: Life Principles
- God wants a true relationship with us. Our priority in life should be to grow in that relationship, and if broken, come back to him and restore it
- If we try to fix things in our life without fixing our relationship with God first, it will be useless; our foundation will not be on the rock.
- As the prodigal son, if we come back to the Lord, he will have open arms for us. He will forgive us if we truly repent and turn to him (1 John 1:9)
- Everything we try to do should be built on Him. Our marriage, our families, our ministry, our life. Christ is our firm foundation.
- If we feel we are growing far from Him, it’s time to come back, to restore that relationship with him. Trust him, he will forgive us and will restore us to his perfect will.
- In everything we do today, tomorrow, this week, let’s try to find Christ in it. If we put Christ in everything we do, we sure have a good foundation.
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