"Unimportant" People

 

Ezra 2:1 Now these were the people …

Does what we are and what we do as “unknowns” in our generation matter?  Essentially, in the grand scheme of life, I am not important.

I am not a person of importance; I am not famous for having or doing anything in particular. Does that mean that what kind of person I am or what I do is unimportant?  Is the idea of “unimportant” a valid one?

This chapter in Ezra lists people who were willing to take on a big trip and the enormous task of traveling to Jerusalem from Babylon to rebuild the city and the temple.  42,360+ people made the trip to Jerusalem, most of whom we do not know even their names, much less what they did specifically when they got to Jerusalem. 

But we know what motivated them.

Chances are none of them had ever been to Judah since the Israelites had been taken captive at least one generation earlier, so my guess is that these people had been born in Babylon.  I am quite certain their motivation was not to go down in history as names in the Bible I am reading over 2000 years later.   

No, I rather think they just wanted to follow God’s leading and calling on them to rebuild the temple, the house of God.  

But here I am, thousands of years later, reading of their choice to serve God in this way.  They wanted to help make a difference, so they left the home, family and friends they knew in Babylon to do so.

May that be my legacy into the future also; known for my desire and active participation in God's plan.

Even if no one even knows my name.  Even if I remain "unimportant."

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.  ~ 1 Corinthians 4:2

... that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments ... ~ Psalm 78:6-7