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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken
heart and bitter grief. And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you
shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear
and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be
wet with urine.’ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the
Sovereign Lord.”
Ezekiel 21:6-7
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
“I am against you.”
These were the words the Lord gave His messenger Ezekiel to
share with the Israelites, God’s people who had chosen to be anything but
devoted to Him. We know this because they were worshiping any number of pagan
idols instead of God, even going as far as defiling His holy temple in
Jerusalem with what the Lord called “detestable practices.” This spiritual
infidelity sparked God’s fury but He was not quick to send punishment, sending
more than one warning to His people to stop sinning or else.
But the people did not heed those warnings, failing to take
God seriously and continuing in their sinful ways. This terrible lack of
sensibility left God with no other choice then to send judgment on His people.
He had commanded them to have no other gods before Him and even self-disclosed
that He was a jealous God but the people acted as if they had no fear of God or
what He could bring on them.
It was a big mistake. A real big one.
For in yesterday’s devotion from the opening verses of
Ezekiel 21, we saw the Lord preparing for battle against the Israelites,
drawing His sword and ready to exact consequences upon them for their
wickedness. Those consequences included cutting off His people from anything
and everything that meant anything to them like their homes, their nation,
their beloved city of Jerusalem and its temple. God took it all from them
before ensuring they were taken far away into a foreign land for seventy years.
If the Israelites wanted to commit themselves to other gods, they could see
just how useless those gods were as they would not be rescued from exile until
God’s prescribed penalty had been served and even then, it would be God who
would ensure His people were able to return home to rebuild their lives and
their relationships with Him.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. God was about
to tell His people that He was no longer for them but rather against them. The
people who had once been protected by God were now squarely in the crosshairs
of His wrath and its associated punishment, a reality that as we see in our
scripture passage today would result in physical and emotional responses. Look
again at these words here:
“Therefore groan, son
of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. And when they ask
you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is
coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit
will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.’ It is coming! It will
surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 21:6-7
Take a moment and think how you would respond if you knew
that you had angered God so much that He was sending His consequences upon you.
You would most probably have reactions similar to the ones we see in the
Israelites, responses that would most certainly include the following:
1. Groaning and lamenting.
2. Broken heartedness.
3. Bitter grief.
4. Melting hearts.
5. Loss of bodily strength and control.
6. Faint spirits.
You see, being in a place where God is against us is a place
none of us should ever want to be because as sure as these feelings invaded the
lives of the people of God, they will consume us as well if we are in a similar
position. You can bank on it.
So why are we still openly challenging God to act upon our
sinfulness by committing them liberally, seemingly oblivious to how much danger
we are putting ourselves in through disrespecting and disregarding our Master
and Maker, the One who holds infinite power in His hands?
Why are we asking for God to once again say the words, “I am
against you?”
I don’t know the answers to these questions. I just know we
had better wake up soon or else we can rest assured that God is going to act
and when He does, the penalties He exacts on us are not going to be pleasant.
Just ask the Old Testament Israelites.
The good news is that we can turn this around and start
heading in the right direction but only if we are all willing to commit to steadfast
obedience toward the Lord, an obedience that says to Him that He is the one and
only true God, the God who made us and the God who loves us enough to desire we
be saved through His Son Jesus.
If we do this, then He will truly be our God, no against us
but rather for us in such a way that no one could stand against us, we being more
than conquerors through Christ Jesus, our Lord (Romans 8:31, 37-39) just as He
promised.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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