RTW 2023

While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him.

Ezra 10:1

When I heard this, I tore my cloak and my shirt, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down utterly shocked. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel came and sat with me because of this outrage committed by the returned exiles. And I sat there utterly appalled until the time of the evening sacrifice.

Ezra 9:3-4

• Ezra has found that the entire nation has been in sin.
• He responds to this through brokenness.
• He weeps bitterly.
• The men, women, and children all respond in the same way.
• The Word has led to the conviction of sin.
• The people respond with confession.
• God uses this to help His people grow softer rather than hard-hearted towards sin.
• God works the same way with us today.
• John 16:8
• Jesus indicates that the Spirit’s convicting work focuses not just on believers but also on the world. The powers, the principalities, the systems, the cultures, the governments of this world are also in rebellion against God. And the Spirit is in the world convicting rebels of their rebellion.
• 1 John 1:9
• Confession of sin is a normal and necessary part of the Christian life. There is biblical truth teaching that confession of sin marks the beginning of the Christian life, but there is other biblical truth which teaches us that confession of sin is an ongoing and required component of the Christian life.
• 1 Peter 3:8
• Tenderheartedness is the opposite of hardness of heart, and we are commanded to pursue it and to have it.

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Pray that God uses His Word to convict me of sin, that I respond with confession of sin, and that my heart grows softer to His leading.