Manslick Road church of Christ

A Heart Set on the Lord

“For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel” (Ezra 7:10 ).

Jeshua and Zerubbabel led the initial group of Babylonian captives back to Jerusalem. With the help of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, they rebuilt the temple. About eighty years later, King Artaxerxes authorized a second group to return under Ezra. His mission was to teach God’s law. Artaxerxes ordered the provincial rulers in Palestine to provide Ezra whatever he needed. The King himself donated funds to pay for operating expenses at the temple (Ezra 7).

The Bible emphasizes that Artaxerxes granted Ezra’s requests because “the hand of the Lord was upon him” (Ezra 7:6, 9, 28 ). And why was God’s hand so favorable toward this priest? Because, as our text explains, he had set his heart on God. That involved three things.

First, Ezra set his heart to study God’s law. He was not presumptuous about God’s will. It is not uncommon for people to just assume that God views things the way they do. Some think they have an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong implanted by God. But Jeremiah said, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in man who walks to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23 ).

God’s thoughts are not the same as ours (Is. 55:8-9 ). If we want to know His will, we must listen to His word. The blessed man is the one whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:2 ).

Second, Ezra set his heart to practice God’s law. It does little good to know God’s will if we do not live it. James likened that to looking in a mirror, then ignoring the needed changes (Jas. 1:23-24 ). “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (Jas. 1:25 ). Later he added, “To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17 ).

Third, Ezra set his heart to teach God’s law. That was part of his priestly function (Dt. 33:8-11 ). But it was more: it was another expression of his love for God. Just as Ezra desired for himself the blessings that come from a godly life, he wanted that for others as well.

People with Ezra’s heart care about little children, whose hearts must be molded. They are concerned about their peers, who may have had little opportunity to hear God’s law. And they are aware that folks who know tend to forget when they are not reminded.

Ezra’s heart was set on the Lord. On what is your heart set?