Repenting of Rejecting
Daily Old Testament Reading: Ezra 7-10
Daily Focus Passage: Ezra 9
The people of Israel began to intermarry with non-Israelites as they returned to the Promised Land after spending time in exile. The Lord forbade this activity and called the people to remain faithful to his ways and plans. He knew that intermarrying would lead his people to reject his ways and live under the influence of cultural acceptance and logic. In Ezra 9, Ezra approaches the Lord and seeks repentance for the ways of the people who rejected the ways of the Lord. He also calls the people to repent and seek the Lord for forgiveness. This moment teaches us today the importance of battling against the influence of a culture that counters the ways of the Lord. It calls us to identify where we have gone wayward and seek repentance.
ACCEPTING THE WAYS OF CULTURE
Ezra identified that the people accepted the culture around them by allowing intermarriage to occur. This act of intermarriage happened as the people adopted the world's logic. The same threat exists today for believers. We live with the constant danger of accepting the culture's ways that counter the Lord's.
First, acceptance of culture occurs through fleshly desires. Many people use the slogan today that love is love. Unfortunately, his motto could have defined the people of Isreal who disobeyed the Lord. This mentality is driven by the flesh and not by faith. The culture makes such prerogatives sound proper because they enlist the desires of the flesh. This approach was also used in the Garden of Eden as Satan tempted the desires of Eve.
Second, acceptance of culture occurs through minimizing sin. The culture attempts to create a metric for sinfulness. People attempt to place the value of evil on how bad one's sin is. Minimizing sin makes sin more acceptable and threatens acceptance excellently. Satan also used this approach in the Garden when he questioned what God said.
REJECTING THE WAYS OF THE LORD
The acceptance of culture exists as a rejection of the Lord. The Israelites did not disobey just because they participated in an act that was sinful but also because they rejected the Lord's ways. Today, disobedience occurs not just through accepting the world but through the rejection of the Lord.
First, rejection occurs when we ignore and refuse to obey the Lord. The sin of the people occurred because they did not follow the Lord. They knew the truth and chose not to obey it. Rejecting the Lord means rejecting his ways and will that must govern our lives. When we reject the Lord by ignoring the truth or refusing to obey, we declare that we know better with our lives.
Second, rejection occurs when we fail to prioritize the Lord. We can give lip service to the Lord and fail to follow him because we need to place him as the main priority in life. When we do not commit to him as Lord, we allow him to be compartmentalized in our lives and separate portions of our lives from his lordship. Such a life is disobedience because the Lordship of Christ is an all-or-nothing reality.
SEEKING REPENTANCE BEFORE THE LORD
Ezra knew the people had disobeyed the Lord and needed to seek repentance. Thus, he came before the Lord with a proper heart and sought the Lord for forgiveness. Today, we must learn to properly come before the Lord in repentance when we fall prey to accepting the ways of the world and rejecting the ways of the Lord.
First, we must mourn our condition. Ezra mourned over the sins of the people. Mourning sin occurs when one recognizes one's true condition in the presence of the Lord. The mourning of sin leads to the acceptance of our sin.
Second, we must accept our sins. When we accept our sins, we take ownership of our guilt and own our need for forgiveness. Accepting our sins allows us to approach the Lord and authentically cry out to him for forgiveness.
Third, we must cry out to the Lord. When we cry out to the Lord, we must confess our sins and acknowledge our need for forgiveness. When we cry out, we admit our ultimate need for a Savior. When we cry out authentically, our lives demonstrate the change through a turn to obedience.
Fourth, we must turn to living in obedience. Our lives demonstrate the turn from the ways of sin to the ways of the Lord. This turn occurs when genuine repentance takes place. The turn is the evidence.
As the people of God returned from exile, they found themselves receiving the blessing of the Lord in return and unfaithful before the Lord by disobeying him. Ezra recognized this moment of waywardness. He called on the people to repent and even interceded on their behalf. What areas do we need to repent in as we consider our lives? How can we be like Ezra today and cry out to a world that has abandoned the ways of the Lord?
