Open the Book

       Is there anything more magnificent than finding something precious, something we thought we had lost forever ?   A lost wedding band, miraculously returned after being gone for months, even years.    A precious, old photograph, found after years of being tucked in a seldom-read book.   A treasured letter from a grandparent tumbles out of an old jewelry box in the attic.   But the joy of being reunited with these things is no match for the overwhelming wonder of a parent finding a lost child,  of siblings finding a long-lost relationship,  or of a husband and wife rediscovering love after they thought they were headed for an inevitable divorce.

       But as special as all of these things or relationships are, there is something even more precious  that we can lose.   One of the lesser-known books of the Bible,  Nehemiah, tells us what happens when an entire nation rediscovers their love and need for God,  after intentionally losing it.  

     After ignoring God's law and warnings for years, the Jewish nation was defeated by the Babylonians.  Their capital city of Jerusalem was destroyed, and many of them were forced into a long and painful exile in Babylon.  Seventy years later, they were allowed to return to Jerusalem by a more friendly Persian ruler.   Nehemiah, the Jewish governor,  oversees the difficult task of rebuilding Jerusalem's broken walls and burned gates.   In the book that bears his name,  Nehemiah  describes the  amazing response of the people in a spontaneous celebration of rediscovering a love they thought they had lost forever.   Here are some excerpts from Nehemiah 8:


    They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.  So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand....

He read it aloud from daybreak till noon.....

Ezra opened the book.  All the people could see him because he was standing above them;  and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, Amen ! Amen ! Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.....

Then Nehemiah, the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, This day is sacred to the Lord your God.  Do not mourn or weep. For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared.  This day is sacred to our Lord.  Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

          I hope that if you're still looking for a lost ring or other treasure, that its Day of Finding is near.  If you're missing a lost relationship, that your Day of Reconciliation will come soon.  But most importantly, if you've wandered from God,  the Greatest Treasure of all, or never really found Him in the first place, that you'll ....Open the Book.   You'll find everything there you've been looking for.

       For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16