In His Praise!
Good News from East Point C.P. Church
February 27, 2022
“… the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:10b
In the book of Nehemiah, we read about the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. This was a great undertaking, which was dangerous at times and required much hard work and cooperation from the people. God’s people were happy when this project was completed.
After the completion of the wall there was a day of celebration. Ezra, the priest was asked to read the book of God’s law to the people. As the people heard God’s word, they realized they had sinned and not kept the law as they should. They repented. They shed tears and were truly sorry for the failures.
Ezra encouraged them by speaking these words from verse 10. He told them that this should be a day of rejoicing and encouraged them to celebrate by joining together in a meal and exchanging gifts with each other. In other words, let their joy show. God had forgiven their wrongs and they could be happy.
We too should feel convicted for the sins we commit. It should also make us sad to know that we fail our Lord in many ways. But as we turn to the scripture, we also can find joy, comfort, strength and most of all forgiveness. We, like the Israelites, can rejoice in knowing that God loves us and forgives us.
That is certainly something to celebrate!