Do you have a Bible hero? Someone in Scripture who inspires you, challenges you, comforts you, or prods you towards God’s purpose for you? The people who fill the pages of the Bible are flesh and blood, real people who walked, moved, lived, loved, sinned, struggled, fell, and got up just like you and me. Their stories are given to us so that we can learn what it means to live in God’s will, walk in His ways, and see His glory in the everyday routine of living.
Ezra is one of my favorites. Ezra 7:4 says, “For Ezra set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”
Ezra lived at a time when Israel was struggling to refind its footing as God’s people. Coming back from captivity, they needed to plant deep roots in worship, seal their identity in God’s presence, and learn again what it meant to live in the promises and purpose of the Lord. So Ezra set his heart to doing three things that would not only come to define him, but help shape the people among whom he lived.
Ezra set his heart to study. He committed to saturating his soul with the power of God’s Word. He set his heart to doing everything God’s Word revealed. God’s law became his map, his guide, his lamp, his wisdom, and his path. He set his heart to teaching others. He made it his mission to connect the people around him with the God who had pursued them, loved them, redeemed them, and longed to make them His own. By choice, by diligence, and by example, Ezra lived out what it means to be God’s person in his time and place.
My Jesus Resolution today is to be like Ezra. I want to set my heart on God. I want Jesus to be the focus, the determination, and the deep desire of who I am. I want to immerse myself in His Word, allowing its life-refreshing waters to penetrate the hard places, fill in the broken spots, and heal the wounds left by my waywardness. I want to not only learn about Him, I want to live like Jesus. Walking in His footsteps leaves a trail that leads others straight into the presence of God.
Casandra Martin 