When I was in college, I remember the excitement of returning to my family home whenever I could. For many of us today, “home” maybe isn’t where we live but where our family history can be found. Perhaps it’s where you grew up or a place where family members immigrated from.
A good majority of us today have no idea what it is like to be taken from our homes. As we read in Ezra, however, the Jews had been living in a foreign land for nearly 48 years. Generations had been in exile, far away from their ancestral homes. While new generations had grown up in the new surroundings, older generations recalled memories and remembered prophesies of the Temple being restored and rebuilt in Jerusalem. So, when the opportunity came through a foreign king decreeing that the Jews could return to Jerusalem, the people responded with glee.
When I think about our spiritual lives and compare it to that situation in Israel, it can feel like we are not living in relationship with God and even begin to sink into a more secular lifestyle. Over time, this lifestyle can become our default which then can lead to poor decision making, distracted thinking, or even death. But we can trust that the Holy Spirit will always try to nudge us back, reminding you and me that we are made to worship and be in relationship with him.
Somehow, God can even use someone who is humble, even a nonbeliever, like King Cyrus, to return people to a relationship with the Lord. We see it in the text today, that the Lord can move our hearts and provide opportunities (verses 5-6) to bring his creation into right relationship with him again.
Questions for reflection:
- How is your relationship with the Lord today?
- If you have become distant from God, why not ask him to draw near to you right now? Maybe turn on your favorite Christian radio station or go to your favorite music app and select a song of praise and worship and see how the Lord speaks affirmation, love, and promise over you.
Gracious Lord, thanks for using humble, faithful individuals to remind us of your unfailing love, pointing us back to your steadfastness. Lord, provide me with a song of praise today that can be an anthem over this season of my life that gives me assurance and draws me even closer to your heart’s desire. Amen.