Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 16-17, Psalm 61

“On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die. BUT I CAME BY AND SAW YOU THERE, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ And I HELPED YOU to thrive like a plant in the field… – Ezekiel 16:4-7a

The Israelites needed someone to paint a picture for them of their unfaithfulness and disrespect. In Ezekiel 16, the Lord used a parable to describe His people as a wife who is unfaithful to her husband. God had blessed His people and they had, in turn, put other things ahead of God, making idols of the very things God had blessed them with.

Reading through this parable, I could not help but see the resemblance of this kind of unfaithfulness in America. We are so quick to fall in love with the things of this world instead of running after things that have eternal value. We are willing to sacrifice so much of what God has blessed us with in order to have more and more of what the world has to offer. We run after earthly possessions and accomplishments, instead of running after God. We quickly forget all that He has done for us.

“Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. I gave you expensive clothing…I gave you lovely jewelry…And so you were adorned with gold and silver…You ate the finest food…You looked like a queen, and so you were! Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord.

“But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking. You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen?…

“It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied. You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia, the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.

“What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign Lord, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute…so eager for sin…you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you!” – Ezekiel 16:7-16, 28b-34

Help us, Lord! In a book that describes the wrath of God and His severe punishment on a nation that was unfaithful after He had done so much for them, He uses a parable that could easily be used to describe us.

God blesses us with time and we spend it on ourselves.
God blesses us with money and we use it to buy more of what the world has to offer.
God blesses us with a television and we watch unwholesome programs.
God blesses us with beauty and we use it to bring attention to ourselves.
God blesses us with beautiful bodies and we dress immodestly.
God blesses us with a sense of humor and we participate in coarse joking.
God blesses us with intelligence and we make our own decisions.
God blesses us with talent and we allow pride to grow.
God blesses us with family and we gossip & complain about them.

Forgive us, Lord!
Forgive us for the importance we put on the things of this world and on our own physical beauty.
Forgive us for embracing “the land of merchants” and always wanting more.
Forgive us for thinking anything you have blessed us with is ours to enjoy.
Forgive us, Lord!

“I will be a sanctuary to you during your time of exile.” – Ezekiel 11:16

Wow, these words are so powerful. God was punishing His people by allowing Jerusalem to be destroyed, including their place of worship. Why? To remind them that the Temple was never meant to BE worshipped but to be a place to worship GOD. Now the Temple is gone and they are far from their homes and all God had blessed them with, but they still had God. He was with them and He desired to be their sanctuary. He stripped them of everything so that they would fall on their knees and recognize Him as the only place to go to worship.

Lord, be our sanctuary. Lord, we long to worship you this morning. We recognize your blessings all around us and we turn our attention to you. Give us eyes to see only YOU and hearts to desire only what you desire. Lord, we fall on our knees and ask you to forgive us as a nation. Lord, turn our hearts back to you and help us to once more become a nation who puts their trust in you alone.

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 18–20

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” – John 9:1-2

This was a question that had been asked for generations, and continues to creep into our thinking today. There is this expectation that I won’t have to pay the consequences for my sins. There is this comfortable theology that says if I am a righteous person who turns from my righteous behavior and starts to do sinful things, I am somehow protected by my previous status with God and will not be held accountable for today’s decisions. But our righteous God made Himself clear through the prophet Ezekiel.

And this is my rule: The person who sins is the one who will die. – Ezekiel 18:4b

“‘What?’ you ask. ‘Doesn’t the child pay for the parents’ sins?’ No!…The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done.” – Ezekiel 18:19-22

Even while displaying justice, God is also showing mercy. Our holy God who punishes sin is also the God of grace who is making a way for the lost to find their way back to Him.

GOD IS NOT WANTING ANYONE TO PERISH.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

This same message is evident in the book of Ezekiel. Even as God is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem as a punishment to His people for their sins, He speaks of His desire that all should come to repentance – then none should perish. He appointed Ezekiel as a “watchman” to tell those who were sinning to repent and to encourage those who were not sinning to continue in their righteousness (Ez.33:7-9). The same message of God’s desire to save the lost and to bless His people is presented in chapters 18 and 33 of Ezekiel.

“As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live… The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins. When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their righteous acts will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins. And suppose I tell some wicked people that they will surely die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right…then they will surely live and not die. None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live.” – Ezekiel 33:11-16

GOD NEVER GIVES UP ON US.

I love that our God never gives up on us – that He is always willing to forgive, always desiring for His children to come to repentance. Often we give up on the chance that our friend or loved one will ever turn from their sinful lifestyle, but God never gives up. Just like Ezekiel, HE HAS APPOINTED US ALL AS WATCHMEN. He wants us to help bring back the lost sheep and watch over the flock so that they will not wander away. He is a loving God who wishes to extend grace to His people. But our God is also a jealous God and a just God. We have a choice to either sin or not sin, and we will be judged by our choices.

“Do you think that I like to see wicked people die, says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.” – Ezekiel 18:23-24

CREATE IN US A WATCHMAN’S HEART so that we will care passionately about the lost souls around us. Give us eyes to see the lost and a heart of grace to reach out to them. Use us to bring back the lost sheep and care for those in your flock, that none would be lost. Thank you for being a God of love and grace. Amen.