You know when you just know something? You know that you know that you know. Sometimes what you know doesn’t even make any sense. But you know it. Deep down in your gizzard, you know it. That place next to your “knower” – your gizzard? Okay, we don’t really have a knower or a gizzard. But did you know we have a wenis? That’s the little piece of skin that covers your elbow. I almost washed out Emily’s mouth with soap the first time she asked if she could pinch mine. We also have other equally funny sounding parts of the anatomy. Who in the world thought up “solar plexus?” But the solar plexus is currently a hot topic of discussion and debate – thought to be the core of new age meditation and healing. Argh. But there was a king in the prophet Ezra’s time who allowed a different part of his anatomy to rule his decisions…Ezra 1:1a – “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:…”
- Can you imagine a pagan king’s heart being moved by God to favor the Israelites? All to fulfill a prophecy spoken by one of God’s prophets seventy years previously? It’s a tricky thing when God moves the heart of a man because in doing so, He affects the will of man. God is very cautious to protect man’s will. However, because He is God, He can both move a man’s heart and allow that same man freedom to choose. Is there someone in your life – maybe even you – whose heart seems immovable and stuck in the mire of sin or addiction or apathy or…well, you fill in the blank ______________?
Ezra 1:2 – “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah…’”
- Humility? From the Persian King of the whole known world? The LORD, the Jewish God gave him the kingdoms of the earth and appointed him to build a temple for Him in Jerusalem? Okay, if there’s someone with a stinky attitude in my life, it can’t require a more complete change of heart than this pagan king underwent.
How about you? Do you believe that NO heart is so hard that God's love and compassion can’t melt it like butter by a warm flame? Will you join me in asking forgiveness for doubting His power to work in the hearts of those around me? Ask Him to open our eyes to His ability to move in even the hardest heart…even if the most immovable heart happens to be our own.
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