The Jewish kings after David and Solomon started the turning away from the law of God and began compromising the Jewish people. Little bits here and there which didn’t seem like much at first, but compromises that built upon each other until the whole culture had become corrupt. Since the Jews had turned away from God, God allowed the Jews to become captives of the nations around them. The book of Ezra recounts the history of the Jews in captivity under Persia up to the point of Ezra’s return to Jerusalem to help reestablish the Jews as the people of God, even if not their own kingdom. In chapter 8, Ezra finally arrives at Jerusalem for the very first time. He is hopeful and spirit led to rebuild God’s kingdom. In chapter 9, Ezra is heartbroken. He sees that the remnant of Jews in Judah, the exiles that are there in Jerusalem had fallen back into the trap of allowing compromises to corrupt their culture and their hearts.
Despite knowing their history, despite knowing why God turned away from them the Jews had returned to their wickedness and corruption. Even knowing the cause and effect and knowing the destination that lie before them if they chose this road, the selfish or self-serving way, often called the ‘easy path’ was offered to them and they took it. Yet God still gave them forgiveness.
How often do we return to that which separates us from God? We know where we want to go. We know the difference between Heaven and Hell. But it’s so easy to let things creep back into our lives. We can be so short-sighted as to not see the destination looming in front of us. The easy paths are some of the most effective traps in our lives to take us away from God.
The path to Heaven is a righteous one. Jesus never said it would be easy. He said it’s worth it. If we choose the easy path it’s still a different path and it leads to nowhere. The righteous path can be hard and even treacherous. Life is about both the journey and the destination.
Just as there are many off-ramps leading us away from God there are just as many on-ramps to put us back on the right path. Do not be discouraged if you’ve taken an easy path which led to darkness. God will always offer us a way back.
Finding His Footsteps 