Responding to God's faithfulness

Last week, we focused on God's faithfulness; we were reminded once again that He keeps His promises. We can rely upon Him to be faithful and true to His Word.

How should we respond to His faithfulness? When He graciously gives us the opportunity to begin again after we have sinned and repented?
Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is to rejoice!

And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you. (Deuteronomy 16:11)

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,    that those who love your name may rejoice in you. (Psalm 5:11)

But may all who seek you    rejoice and be glad in you;may those who long for your saving help always say,    “The Lord is great!” (Psalm 40:16)

The second thing that comes to mind as our response to His faithfulness is obedience.
The Jewish people had their covenant to obey, and we have our New Testament covenant, as well:

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:6)

It's interesting to draw a parallel between the continuity seen in this second chapter of Ezra, and continuity in the world we live in, today. Today there are many people that enjoy researching their heritage. Sites and services tout their ability to map and detail our ancestry from our DNA. People are surprised sometimes to find that their heritage leads back to countries they'd not known about, or thought about.
For the Jewish people returning to Jerusalem, it was important that they remember their historical continuity with the Jewish community before the exile to Babylon. Even more important was for them to know that this small community that trekked back, though they were weak compared to the surrounding tribes and nations, were continuing God's plan for Israel. It was now their responsibility to carry on God's purposes. It was their task to hand off to their children and their grandchildren a vision of God's purposes and of their identity as His people. For them, it was important to be able to say, "I'm the son (or daughter) of this person, and the grandson of that person, etc." and go back for many, many generations. And to be able to say that one was dwelling on the same inherited land? What a picture of God's faithfulness!

But continuity is perhaps a foreign concept to many today. We don't grow up and live and have kids in the same towns, the same houses, that our grandparents did before us. Instead, we are a much more mobile society, and we change homes and geographic locations often. Family ties don't have as much weight when making life decisions, as in the past.
However, there is great value in the effort to preserve continuity in life. It can be done through committed relationships with family and friends. It can also be done by handing down items that have meaning and memories attached to them. Telling and retelling the stories of those who touched and used those items can foster a feeling of family, and of continuity.
So, too, we should make the efforts required to foster continuity based on God's Word. We can make sure that we hand off His truth. We can work to preserve it in our families from generation to generation.

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.  (Deuteronomy 4:9)

In this way, we will live faithful to His covenant; we will be responding to His faithfulness to us.