Reading… and Thinking

This Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him… For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

– Ezra 7:6,10 (ESV)

It’s a little easier to identify with Ezra than it might be for some others we encounter in the pages of Scripture. He operates under Providence, not under special revelation. He had no divine orders, no “thus says the Lord” authority. Yet he was powerfully influential, for good.

The reason for his influence is quoted above. He set his heart to do three things:

1. To study the law of the Lord. Everything else would be based upon God’s Word, not on his own supposition, or what seemed right to him. This is the essential foundation for anyone who wants to serve God. If you’re going to serve Him, you have to know what He wants, and you only find that in the Bible! As a result of Ezra’s study (which most others didn’t bother with) he was able to speak with the moral authority of the Word of God to back up his words.
2. To do it. It isn’t enough to have an intellectual grasp of the Word. It must be put into action. Jesus and the apostles were clear that being hearers of the Word isn’t enough; we have to be doers. (Example: James 1:22) As a result of Ezra’s devotion to living according to God’s Word, no accusation of hypocrisy could undermine what he said.
3. And to teach it. The Word of God isn’t something to keep to yourself. It’s intended to be shared! The idea of retreating into a monastic or hermit’s life is completely foreign to God’s way. And once again, this keeps the Word from becoming something merely intellectual for us. We can see it working in people’s lives.

All three of these things are powerful examples for us. As they would have been for the Lord Jesus. He too studied the Father’s Word, and did it, and taught it.

But there is something else, and it has to come first. Before any of these things, Ezra “set his heart”. He decided to do it, and he committed himself to it. This is the attitude that the Lord desires to see in all of us. Instead of what comes naturally – drifting along, or looking at the Word when it’s convenient, or doing what pleases us, or making “resolutions” that don’t have any commitment behind them, or timidly keeping what we know to ourselves.

The Lord looks on the heart. When He looked at Ezra, He saw a heart set on learning, doing, and teaching. What does He see your heart set on?