Joel M Bradshaw

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens…”–Ezra 9

1. Ezra was confessing sins publicly and corporately for his people.
2. Ezra felt shame and embarrassment when faced with his sins and the holiness of God.
3. Regarding your own sin, does it make you feel indifferent or ashamed?
4. When you pray to God, are your sins simply just one thing on a big list, or do you actually take them seriously?
5. I look back at my sinful past with regret and embarrassment. I am grateful for Jesus. Does this also describe you?
6. In Christ, we no longer have condemnation (Romans 8:1) for our sins. I am certainly not suggesting we hate ourselves or wallow in the shame.
7. But Ezra had an emotional reaction to sin even as he confessed. I think it would do us good to follow his example.–JMB