November 16
Ezek 33:1-34:31 | PS 115:1-18 | Prov 27:21-22 | Heb 13:1-25
It's getting bad. It's getting really bad in our nation. The question is what to do? When my children were little I could make them do this or that. But those days are long gone, and those now in harm’s way are adults, and therefore have free choice. We don't have endless time. We also don't have the endless attention of any individual. So, we can either choose to focus on the worldly problems, and how corrupt things are. Or we can focus on the spiritual issues and focus on God, and direct others to God, the only real solution to what is bad. We can't make anyone do anything. We can't make anyone believe the things that we do. But we can sound the alarm. Once you do that, then it is up to them. They can choose to respond, or they can choose to ignore, but at least we have done our part, and followed what God would have us do.
It was no different in the days of Ezekiel. His nation, Judah, was on the brink of collapse. The leaders were corrupt. The leaders sought their own gain, and cared little for the people. Ezekiel could have focused on the corruption, instead he sounded the alarm, and directed people to God. We read in Ezekiel 33:7-9. "“So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul." The role of the watchman on the wall was just that. With trumpet in hand his job was to scan the horizon. He was to be trustworthy, attentive, and honest. Once danger was seen, he would sound the alarm. That was all he was to do. It was then up to the people to respond.
But realize, with God this is not a suggestion for us, His people, it is an expectation. God does not see the world as we do. We tend to want certain people groups to be saved and others to be judged. God wants all to come to know Him and be saved, as we read in Ezekiel 33:11, "Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’" It doesn't matter how much in the other camp anyone is, God, and for that matter we should desire for them to turn from their evil ways and into God's hand of salvation. You might be the exact mouthpiece that God placed in that exact mission field. What will you spend your time talking about today? Sports? Television? Your children? The time to fill our days with idle conversation are long gone. It is time to sound the alarm to a nation that is largely sleeping.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: