Day 125, or May the 5th.
Sorry seems to be the hardest word.
Our thoughts today are rooted in Ezra chapter 10 verse 1.
While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house
of God, a large crowd of Israelites, men, women, and children, gathered around him.
They too wept bitterly.
And now the big picture surrounding this verse.
After much Bible study, the people finally resolved to do their part in getting their
lives back on track and worshipping the God of their fathers.
There has been a lot of intermarrying with other nations, despite God clearly teaching
His people that they must remain a pure race.
This may sound racist to our 21st century ears, but actually it was the only way for
the Israelites not to be swallowed up by other nations' traditions and religions.
In those days, when two nations were joined by a marriage, this brought together two families,
and both of them worshipped each other's gods.
Within a generation or two, any clear following of the true living God would be totally dissolved
by the growing number of pagan gods, from here, there, and everywhere.
And now our action step for today.
One of the things that I find most irritable in our 21st century daily life is the fact
that no one uses the word sorry now.
I recall commenting on this to a shop assistant, with whom I was having a debate about a faulty
item I was returning.
I said, I think the word you're looking for is sorry.
To which she replied, I don't think so.
It would have defused the impasse straight away.
I have since learned that some insurance companies have instructed clients never to say sorry,
because it's an admission of guilt.
What's wrong with that if it is your fault?
The people of Ezra's day wept bitterly because they had so much to be sorry for.
Why not try to incorporate the word sorry into your daily life when appropriate today?
It will reduce arguments and also introduce an element of honesty and integrity into our
daily lives.