Bible Reading: Ezra 7: 2 Timothy 2: 19-26
“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” – Ezra 7:10 (KJV).
To seek the Lord is to seek to know his word and to do it. The idea of seeking the Lord does not suggest that God hides himself. It simply brings to light the fact that his ways are not human ways. God is a spirit so man need to be open and sensitive to the spirit realm to be in the same frequency with God. A carnal man cannot understand the things of the spirit of God.
The journey of seeking the Lord begins at new birth. God himself initiated the search for man. It was not God that wandered away, it was man. As a result of the fall, man lost his way but God in his infinite love came to seek and to save the lost. When man yields to the gospel, the light of the gospel creates the hunger for more of God, to know him intimately. Man can then seek God in prayer, in the study of the word and in intimate fellowship.
The text we are considering shows how Ezra prepared his heart to seek the Lord. Seeking the Lord will demand a heart commitment. God demands that we seek him with all our heart. Sometimes people claim to be seeking the Lord but their hearts are far from God; such people cannot truly find God. For God to be revealed to us, the heart must be engaged. There must first be a preparation of the heart in repentance and genuine commitment. There must be a commitment to the word and to prayer. There must be a resolve not only to understand the word but also to put it into practice because hearers only are not justified but doers of the word. There is also the responsibility of teaching others like Ezra did so we can wield positive influence on our society.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, create in me deep hunger to seek you above anything else.
Rev. Vincent Diolu