Ezra Preparing His Heart For God's Law - Ezra 7:10

In the book of Ezra, Ezra said, “For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him”, and in chapter seven and verse ten of Ezra, Ezra shared how, “Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD” where we read,

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, 

and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

The verse reads, “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, ...” Ezra began with the words, “for Ezra” which means “because, since and on account that Ezra whose name means help” “had prepared his heart” which means “made firm, stable, established and fixed his, Ezra's, soul, mind, will, inner man and seat of emotions and affections” “to seek the law” or “and to search with care, inquire and consult the direction, instruction and legal directives” “of the LORD” which means “belonging to Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”. Ezra shared how he established and fixed his soul, mind and will toward searching the direction and instruction within the legal directives of Jehovah God. 

The verse goes on to say, “… and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” Ezra continued with the words, “and to do it” which means “and to perform and produce it, the law of the LORD”, “and to teach in Israel” or “and to give instruction and direction within Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and nation of descendants of Jacob” “statutes” which means “ordinances, limits, prescribed tasks and portions” “and judgments” or “and acts of justice, ordinance and deciding a case”. Ezra shared how he not only established himself in searching within the “law of God”, but he also performed and taught the ordinances and acts of justice to the people of “Israel”.

When we think through the words in this verse, we discover through Ezra how he devoted himself to making sure his mind, will and emotions were searching for the commands and directives of Jehovah God. Not only would he search for them, but he would also keep and perform God's commands and give instruction and direction of His law to others. These principles are good for all of us to observe especially if we are ministers of the gospel. God wants to be in a personal relationship with us, and when we seek Him, He will reveal Himself to us through His Son Jesus who was crucified on the cross for the sins of all mankind. When we receive Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will inspire us to “seek” His “law”, “do it” and to give instruction to others so they may know God in keeping with His word. 

Next time Ezra says, “this is the copy of the letter that the king Araxerxes gave unto Ezra”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".