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A PREPARED HEART (I)
THURSDAY, APRIL 15
Ezra 7:6-10

Matthew 7:7-8

 

“…to seek the law of

the LORD…”

 

A PREPARED HEART (I)
 
The word “prepared” describes something that has been established on a firm foundation, and speaks here of an inner determination, a resoluteness of will. Ezra was firmly committed to his calling from God. Surely each one of us can attest to the rarity of such a prepared heart! We are innately vacillating and unstable ‒ so often we set a course with steadfast intent, only to wander from it a moment later ‒ and nature’s bent is pressed yet further by the “advancements” of our modern age. We go through life beset by distraction, and wooed by a tumult of voices designed to fragment our attention and divert our aim. If we are to serve God, we need a heart like Ezra’s.
 
Prepared to seek. In the first place, Ezra had resolved to “seek the law of the LORD” (v 10). He found himself in the heart of the Persian empire, a pagan and idolatrous metropolis full of its own laws, customs, and religious practices. Yet there was one law that he sought; one that he esteemed above all. And where was this law? It was “not hidden,” nor “far off… beyond the sea,” but “very nigh” (Deut 30:11-14), because it had been given by God through His servants the prophets. God had made it available and accessible to all who prized it enough to seek it.
 
Consider the excellence of God’s law: it is “more to be desired… than much fine gold” (Ps 19:10), to be “rejoiced in… as much as in all riches” (Ps 119:14), to occupy our meditations “day and night” (Ps 1:2); and it is more easily accessible to us, perhaps, than to any previous generation. But though a multitude today may profess to love God’s law, it remains to be seen how many have truly prepared their hearts to seek it, and to pursue the knowledge of it. How many actually devote more time to the study of God’s Word, than to the idle entertainment of the world? How many, in the quiet of the evening, will sit before the Lord with gladness of heart?
 
It would be foolish to expect any half-hearted attempts or careless efforts to yield lasting fruit in this endeavour. If we would reap the blessings of the Lord, we must really prepare our hearts to seek His law ‒ with diligence and full commitment.
 
THOUGHT: Is my heart prepared to study God’s Word?

PRAYER: Forgive me, Father, for my contempt of Thy law.

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