May 19, 2010

Today's reading: Ezra 6, 7, 8; Psalm 19, 49, 79, 109, 139; Proverbs 9

Ezra 6:1-3, "Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written: In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;"

I went and visited a friend a couple weeks ago. I had not stopped in and visited him for a while. When I arrived at his house he was getting ready to go fishing the next day. We had a good visit. I enjoy talking about fishing. I don't know nearly as much about it as I would like to know. As we talked he would explain to me what he was doing and why he was doing it. He even explained why he did it in the way he did it. I learned a lot. All I need now is a boat. Ha!

I remember how he poured over every detail and made sure that he had tools in case the boat broke down in the middle of the lake. He put certain lures in certain boxes and then put them in certain compartments in the boat. There was a method to everything he did. It was a great amount of preparation.

However, it was all for naught. As my friend began to navigate the idle zone wanting to get to the end so he could open up the motor and let his boat skim across the water and tremendous speeds it sputtered and died. Yes, it died. All the work he had done the day before was for naught!

I am glad it is not this way with the Lord. If we prepare to meet Him and do it His way then we are assured that He will be there right on time. Every time!

Look at Ezra 7:10, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." Here is where we need to live. We need to constantly be preparing our heart to seek the Lord. Amen!

So, how is your preparation coming along?