Ezra

Was reading Ezra last week... and realised that I hadn't put any Bible thoughts on in a while... so here's a quick one on Ezra.

Ezra was a priest during the time of Israel's exile in Babylon, but Cyrus and Darius (neither of them popstars), relented and let the Israelites who wanted to, to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and the temple. So Ezra decided he would go, and take supplies etc for those who had already left. And everything he did prospered. Why?

'For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel'

Ezra did 3 three things with the Law of the LORD (that is, the Scriptures that had been completed up to that point):

1. Studied it

2. Observed it

3. Taught it

It wasn't a dry study to him - it informed his teaching. But much more than that, he also framed his life according to it, and this is how he prospered. There's a similar verse in James that say we should not be hearers of the Word only, but also doers...

How does your Bbile reading affect the rest of your life? Learn with Ezra, and study, observe and teach!