Day 144: Ezra 7:1 - 10:13

It's interesting to see how quickly things looked like they were going south with the Israelites once they had been allowed to go back to their homeland. After only a few chapters, the Israelites were already going around marrying foreign wives and giving their daughters to foreign husbands. Fortunately, instead of just turning a deaf ear to the problem and letting people do whatever they wanted, Ezra stood up and did the two most important things one can do in this sort of situation - he asked God to forgive them, and then he made it right. I know that this wasn't by any means the end of all of Israel's problems or troubles, but I do believe that because Ezra was obedient and faithful in recognizing the problem, he singlehandedly saved Israel from repeating another devastating collapse. It's always easier to just ignore or pretend not to notice when people in ministry with us or when we ourselves begin to fall back into the same sin that God had already delivered us, but if we will just stand firm and make a strong decision not to allow it and turn a complete 180, God will honor that and we will be able to avoid all of the pain and frustration that could have been.

- Lord, help me to deal with sinful issues in my life the second I see them and not just sit around and hope that maybe they'll go away or magically get better. I don't want to take the easy way of side-stepping the issues because I know that in the end, the "easy" way is usually the way that causes the most  pain. -