Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21


PRIDE AT THE CORE

READ:
Ezra 7:6
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Ezra...was a teacher
well versed in the
Law of Moses.
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"He thinks he's really something!" That was my friend's assessment of a fellow Christian we knew. We thought we saw in him a spirit of pride. We were saddened when we learned that he soon was caught in some serious misdeeds. By elevating himself, he had found nothing but trouble. We realized that could happen to us as well.

It can be easy to minimize the terrible sin of pride in our own hearts. The more we learn and the more success we enjoy, the more likely we are to think we're "really something." Pride is at the core of our nature.

In Scripture, Ezra is described as "a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses" (EZRA 7:6). King Artaxerxes appointed him to lead an expedition of Hebrew exiles back to Jerusalem. Ezra could have been a prime candidate to succumb to the sin of pride. Yet he didn't. Ezra didn't only know God's law; he lived it.

After his arrival in Jerusalem, Ezra learned that Jewish men had married women who served other gods, defying God's express directions (9:1-2). He tore his clothes in grief and prayed in heartfelt repentance (vv. 5-15). A higher purpose guided Ezra's knowledge and position: his love for God and for His people. He prayed, "Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence" (v.15).

Ezra understood the scope of their sins. But in humility he repented and trusted in the goodness of our forgiving God.
_Tim Gustafson

**Lord, fill us with such a love for You that we think first of what will please
You, not ourselves. Free us from the subtle captivity of our own pride.
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Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

*************************Today's Bible Reading __ Ezra 9:1-9**************************
1 After these things had been done, the leaders came to
me and said, "The people of Israel, including the priests
and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from
the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices,
like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites,
Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. 2 They have
taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and
their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples
around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in
this unfaithfulness."

3 When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled
hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. 4 Then
everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel
gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the
exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.

5 Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-
abasement with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees
with my hands spread out to the LORD my God 6 and prayed:

"I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my
face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and
our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our
ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our
sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to
the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand
of foreign kings, as it is today.

8 "But now, for a brief moment, the LORD our God has been
gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place
in his sanctuary, and so our Go gives light to our eyes and a
little relief in our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God
has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness
in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life
to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, And he has
given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem."