It Wasn't His To Take . . .

. . . but he took it anyway.

That this statement could be good or bad depending on what you read into it. For example, 'the car wasn't his to take but he took it anyway.' Or in the case of Jesus, our sin wasn't His to take (meaning he hadn't sinned to cause Him to carry that burden) but He took it anyway. In this particular case Ezra is involved and it's more like the last example.

I like to read a Bible promise before I go to bed each night, it just helps to refocus my mind as I attempt (haha) to drift off to sleep—sometimes easier said than done. Last night I read this amazing verse (Job 16:20, 21) that says, "My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend."

This is what Ezra did for the people he wept for the sins that they had committed. What they did, while he wasn't part of it, rocked him to his core. He loved his nation, he was proud of his nation and the God they served, but not their sin. And the fact that they sinned—this people he loved—ripped his heart.

Chapter 10:6 says "Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God [he had just finished talking with the Levites and preists], and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity." [Emphasis added by me.]

He felt it so strongly. I really believe that something the Christian church needs more of are people who are willing to take what isn't theirs. haha . . . not thieves, but people who realize that souls are holy to God and are willing to "carry them home" not to the physical city of Jerusalem, but the heavenly city by the same name.

Yeah . . .