HeARTworks

On the left are some unfinished purses. On the right are the finished ones. These are all scrap cloth and lace from old clothes and pillows and tablecloths. I usually bring something to sew when I know I'll have a long wait or I may get sleepy at an evening meeting! 

"Ezra read out of the book from daybreak till midday." Nehemiah 8:3

After the walls and gates of Jerusalem were rebuilt, Jewish exiles returned to the city and the people had settled in their towns. On October 8, 445 B.C., all the people assembled together at the square inside the Water Gate. Then Ezra the priest brought out the scroll of the law and read aloud to the men, women and children gathered there. The people paid close attention, and then after Ezra read from early morning till noon, they lifted their hands and worshipped the Lord. After that, it was the turn of the Levites, the other priests, to explain what was read so the people would understand. 

The people started weeping for they realized their sin before God, but Nehemiah and the Levites instructed them, "Don't weep on such a day as this! This is a sacred day. Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength! Go and celebrate!" 

The Word of God, as it says in Hebrews 4:12, is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife. It can cut deep into our innermost thoughts, and exposes us for what we really are. If we spend time reading it and deliberately trying to understand it as the people in the square did, we will realize how poor and wretched we are before our God. But God does not want us to remain in our wretched state. He wants to pick us up from the mud, and give us new life in Him. That is truly something to rejoice about!