Tuesday, August 10, 2015
TEXT: EZRA 10:12-17
KEY VERSE: “Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do” (Ezra 10:12).
When Ezra called the assembly of the people who returned from exile to address their common sin, many of them, who married foreign wives, agreed to divorce their wives. They knew that they had sinned; so, they had no option than to obey Ezra’s order. They did not, however, want to do this in a hurry because of its sensitive and complex nature. For the people, there should be proper arrangement before they could send their foreign wives away. So, majority of the people, except a few, suggested that their leaders should judge each man with a foreign wife, at least, to give them a fair hearing, before the man could send her away.
As suggested, Ezra chose the heads of the families who knew the people well enough, to judge them. They finished this task after three months. The affected men had to separate themselves completely from their foreign wives. This factor teaches that the result of sin has never been pleasant.
Unfortunately, today, some people still allow themselves to be deceived by Satan. They engage in immoral acts without thinking of their consequences. Even after God has forgiven, some people can still be suffering with the results of their sin. Some have contracted HIV/AIDS, while others, mostly girls, have dropped out of school because of unwanted pregnancies and are now living as single parents without any means of taking care of their children. They have ended up bringing vagabond children into the society.
God, who knows the consequence of sin, still warns everybody to abstain from all appearance of evil. And except there is a complete turn away from sin, disaster looms in time and eternity for the careless and impenitent.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOB 9 – 12
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Sin always wounds and damns the sinner.
