“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:21-24.

This final chapter of Ezra, Ezra 10, was difficult for me to read. I can understand Ezra’s sorrow. He, a priest, has been tasked with bringing the second group of returning Israelites to Jerusalem to finish the rebuilding of the temple that had been destroyed because the people in the hardness of their hearts kept turning away from God. Israel had already been taken away completely; Judah had been taken away but those who were willing were being allowed to return by their captors captors. Nations come and go. At the heart of all things is God. Can we turn our hearts to Him?

As I read about the people, spurned by watching Ezra’s sorrow, deciding to send away their foreign wives and their children, I can’t help but think about Hagar, Abraham’s concubine, who God told “I see you”. (Genesis 16:7-14). I can’t help but think about Moses marrying a Midianite and then a Cushite. I can’t help but think about Ruth, a Moabite. God sees us. And what does He ask of us? To love Him, the One who created us, with all our hearts. At the core and heart of all things is God – Father, Son, Spirit – and as our hearts love Him, our hearts and minds are open to all He desires for us. As our hearts grow in our love for our Creator God, a remarkable thing happens: love for others follows and love for Almighty God remains.

For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:8-12.

God doesn’t turn anyone away and in our love for others we should never turn away from our loving, Creator God. How can we? He is Life eternal!