His Love Endures

November 5, 2022

Ezra 3:11 “With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: He is good; His love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.”

Today’s scripture occurred when the Jews returned to Jerusalem. They were afraid of what would happen to them when they returned because they knew that the non-Jewish people would not be pleased with their return. They wanted to ensure that God protected them so they immediately began carrying out their religious duties and built an altar to offer sacrifices to God. They then began to rebuild the temple. There was a lot of rejoicing as they took stones from the ruins of the old temple and recut them to build the foundation of the new temple. 

Did you notice that they started rejoicing before the temple was even done. They started rejoicing after the foundation was started. Even though they knew that the new temple they were building would not be nearly as great as the one that had been destroyed, they still took the time to be grateful, and to stop and thank God for what He had done for them. 

They had originally lost their temple due to their sin, but because of God’s enduring love, they were getting it back. God kept His promise to them.  God keeps His promises to us as well. He promises to forgive our sins and He does.  He has promised to love us forever, and He does. He gives us chance after chance when we screw up, and He keeps on forgiving us. He is merciful and slow to anger because He loves us. 

This scripture is a great reminder that we are to start our day with God, and to stay in touch with Him throughout the day, seeking His advice and guidance as things come up, and thanking Him when blessings happen throughout the day. Then, at the end of the day, recall how faithful God has been to us throughout the day, and give a great shout of praise to God.