Prepared Before Compliance

“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.” (Ezr 7:10 AV)

This isn’t the first person mentioned who had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD.  Several of Judah’s kings did the exact same thing.  Ezra was a priest.  He was charged with repairing the temple and starting afresh the Jewish sacrificial system.  He was focused on the furniture of the temple and the feasts that were to follow.  Therefore, because of his calling, he would naturally prepare his heart to seek the law of the LORD because his calling depended on it.  Preparing one’s heart to seek the law of the LORD is not the same as responding to it with compliance once the law is revealed.  We tend to do more of the latter than the former.  If we are honest, we wait for instructions to be brought to us before we are motivated to obey.  Seldom to we study the word of God that we might specifically find laws or principles to which to conform.  Seeking the law is not the same as mere compliance.  The latter is important.  It must be done.  But the former is a higher standard to which we are called.

Ezra had the calling and responsibility of the priesthood.  His objective demanded that he prepare his heart to search out and discover the law of God.  He could not accomplish what God sent him to do without a prepared heart toward the law of God.  Paul the Apostle states, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,” (Eph 4:1 AV) We have a calling as well.  Our calling is to be a sanctified child of God.  We are to conform to the image of Jesus Christ.  We fail miserably.  We still have that old man to contend with.  He is constantly tempting us to sin.  We may not have the exact same calling as Ezra.  Ours is a lifelong one.  Once the temple was rebuilt and the law established anew, Ezra became a manager.  Our calling is a construction project of change that will not cease until our glorification.  There are always areas of correction.  There are always laws and principles that need discovering.  There are always standards that need our compliance.  Preparing our hearts means that instead of being reactive to the word of God, we become more proactive.

We often preach daily devotions and journaling.  I think both are important.  Daily devotions are going to the LORD for that which that which the saint will need for the day.  Or longer.  It can be encouragement.  Often it is instruction and correction.  Our search should not end with a few minutes a day.  When we go to church or sit in a bible study, we should come with a prepared heart, looking for principles or statutes from God which we can apply to our lives.  This idea of a heart that is prepared to seek the LORD is the mind of the saint that is bent toward seeking opportunities to change and comply.  Having a heart that is prepared is starting at the point of need.  The prepared heart knows that it is not in perfect compliance with the law of the LORD even if it doesn’t yet know the specifics of failure.  The prepared heart is looking with a critical mind for all flaws and the law of God that addresses them.  Looking for, rather than responding to, is a mark of maturity.