Transforming a Region Starts in Me:
No matter where you live, there are things about the area I’m sure you wish were different. Different places to eat, different things to do, different people to talk to, different jobs to work at, a different place to live – just better. When I stop to think about the changes I’d like to see they always come back to people.
- People who are better customers at the restaurant.
- Owners who give better deals on the food they serve.
- Business people who act more fairly when they fix my car or sell me groceries.
- People who are better friends, neighbors and coworkers.
However, I rarely stop to think about my role in seeing my surroundings change. I underestimate my ability to affect the change I’d like to see in my community. So life continues on at it’s normal pace and things around stay the same or get worse.
Ezra wished things were different around him. He lived 800 miles from home. It must have caused him pain to think that back home, his people’s place of worship was destroyed. I know it caused him great pain to know that his people had decided to reject God’s way. They were cheating, stealing, and killing – all because they had forgotten to know and do God’s Word. But Ezra, rather than wishing for things to change, started changing himself. He dedicated himself to know and do God’s Word. Through Ezra, God transformed Jerusalem and the region around.
So the next time I’m complaining about the slow service in the checkout line or the mess up order at the drive through, I hope to remember that transforming a region starts with God transforming me. And that happens as I am dedicated to know and do God’s Word.
How have you let God’s Word change you today?