I got so fascinated again as I journeyed through the book of Ezra recently, about the life of a man who got so distinguished by the fact that he devoted his life to studying the law, which God had given to Israel. Ezra was indeed a distinguished man.
The English dictionary defines the word Distinguished as “to recognize someone or something as different from others based on its characteristics; to make someone noticeably different or better from others through accomplishments”
Ezra gave so much attention to studying and living by the word, to the point that even the Emperor and people around him saw the evidence in his life. Ezra studied God’s word, practiced it, and then taught it. What a beautiful order.
This order reminds me of the ‘food chain’ we learnt in Biology classes in secondary school. There is an order which the chain must follow and this starts with the producers (plants or one-celled organisms). Trying to write a food chain in a reverse order or in a misplaced order is an express invitation to poor scores in any examination question.
Ezra distinguished himself in the study, practicing and teaching the law(word) of God. So should it be for us as believers; there is an order which we must follow with the laws or the word of God. It must begin with us. A distinguished life is a life that gives personal attention first to the word of God through studying and practicing before teaching it to others. It looks like a simple chain and it actually is, by the help of God.
However, the problem comes when one or more of the items on this chain is neglected. It is our primary responsibilities as believers to give attention to studying the word of God and getting it into our lives by practicing it. What we don’t have in our system cannot benefit us. The food that is not scooped and eaten, but remains in the pot or on the shelf, does you no good until you get it into your system.
So is the Word of God. We must make every conscious effort to get the word of God into our lives, by first reading/studying it, then practicing it. If there is anything the devil contends with in our lives, it is the Word. He wants to take our attention and interest away from the Word; from personally sitting by the Bible to read and study for ourselves. We may be occupied by attending so many Christian programs, or doing many religious activities. Satan may not be bothered by those but when you attempt to sit with the Bible, then all manner of distractions set it. We must fight these distractions as much as we can by strategizing to get the word more and more into our heart and spirit. By all means, we must search the scriptures because in them is life. The promises of God for every situation of our lives are neatly embedded in the scriptures and we must not cheat ourselves by failing to study the word, practice it and then teach it to others.
We must not first and foremost be eager to teach or preach when we have not sat at the feet of Jesus to learn and then to imbibe/ practice. The revelations we get from the word should be for us first before we take them out. Our prayer will be become richer, more meaningful and Bible-based when we learn to use the word of God.
My dear reader, are you in any way struggling with the Word of God? Are you having difficulties getting your attention together to read, study and practice the Word of God? Please take it to the Lord in prayer even as you strategize better on giving time to the intentional study, reading and listening to the Bible. You can help yourself by downloading the Audio Bible so you can listen to it being read on the go. Pray against all distractions and be intentional about shutting out distractions. Allocate scripture portions for yourself by having Bible reading plans. Even when you fail at fulfilling it any day, don’t give up. Get up and continue with every effort needed to study the word. Check your schedule and see what things occupy your personal times and seem to be competing with space in your daily schedule. Set your priorities right; don’t let mundane things occupy you so much to the neglect of studying God’s word. Be intentional about the Word as it was written about Ezra. He was very deliberate about reading, practicing, then teaching the Law of God.
Distinguish yourself especially in these end times and get back into the Word of God. It is only as you read, study and practice that you will have a meaningful and lasting message to your generation.
May you & (I) hunger and thirst more for the word of God. May we be drawn more and more into the place of fellowship with God in His Word and may our lives be enriched by the blessings in the Word of God to the point of overflow to the World around us. Amen!
© Funmi Adebayo