On the 25th day of Christmas my true love gave to me His faithfulness and restoration too (Ezra 10:10).

Children do childish things; they’re supposed to; they are children, and adults are charged with helping them to grow out of their childish ways as they grow in stature. These obvious nuggets have kept me for the last two weeks from being mean and screaming at my kids. When I embraced that my children continually show me their need for me, my heart opened with compassion, and now I do whatever it biblically takes to spur them on to maturity. This is the job of a parent, and I am so glad that God Himself is the greatest parent of all. When I read Ezra I see the great challenge of parenting: being faithful to guiding children that stray in order to restore them to the right place.

Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, “The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, [even] of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites” (9:1).

This was after Ezra had led this remnant from years in Babylonian captivity back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. He gathered people from various tribes, including the Levites so they could have “ministers for the house of our God” (8:17). And before the return, Ezra led the group in a fast “to seek of (God) a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance” (8:21). They knew the right thing and did the right thing, but they eventually snubbed God and showed their childishness by marrying and following the abominable ways of other people. But God is faithful. He not only restored them to their land but restored them to Him (10:10-12).

Faithfulness and restoration are the constant themes in Ezra and typify the chief work of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was faithful to His mission to leave heaven to come to earth to teach us about salvation through Him and provide that for us by dying on the cross for our sins. Through Jesus we are restored to God, having been separated from God after Adam ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. The blood of Jesus Christ, the second Adam, covers those of us who accept His death, burial and resurrection in the pardoning of our sins. God the Father sees that Jesus’ blood covers our sins. And when we pray, Jesus Christ still intercedes for us while seated at the right hand of God the Father.

I need to be covered. Just like the Israelites, I know to do right and do right, sometimes, but there are times when I lose my head and start acting just as childish as the children I’m supposed to be teaching. I remember how God dealt with the Israelites, how He deals with me, allowing them to turn away from their waywardness and walk with Him. He is my great stabilizer. When in my sin, I seek to quickly remember His mercy and thank Him for His grace and allow them both to carry me to maturity. I remember what He does for me and offer the same to my little men, wanting them to know through me God’s faithfulness and restoration.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith