The Biblical book of Ezekial can be a difficult read. It is full of God's thoughts towards an unfaithful people, the people of Israel and Judah. And yet within its words and lengthy judgements on sin there is a lesson for us as well as many wonderful promises that relate to God's restoration for his people. We are told by Paul in his letters to Timothy that all scripture is useful.
2 Timothy 3:14-17 NLT
But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. [15] You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. [16] All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. [17] God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
If this is so; if Ezekial is written so that we can learn from it; if it is there for our correction, edification and equipping, then what do we learn from Ezekial?
Here's a couple of thoughts from my reading so far. God's main concern with his people is that they had turned away from him and were copying the customs of the people around them, customs that did not uphold justice or mercy or help people walk in a right relationship with him.
Ezekiel 11:12 NLT
and you will know that I am the LORD. For you have refused to obey my decrees and regulations; instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you."
Does this sounds familiar to us? Paul's words of encouragement to the people of Rome were very similar. He was exhorting them to live in a way that was different to the world and customs around them. He wanted them to know God's will for their lives and to allow God to do his transformative work in their hearts and in their minds and their thinking.
Romans 12:2 NLT
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
So my first thought or question to us is this.
To what extent is my life conformed to the customs and patterns of behaviours in this world and is my life being transformed by God?
How am I allowing God to do his transformative work in me and am I letting him change me by addressing the way I think and the way I'm choosing to live in this world?
God calls his people to live in this world but to live differently in this world. Jesus prayed that we would know how to live in this world yet live for him.
John 17:15-18 NLT
I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. [16] They do not belong to this world any more than I do. [17] Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. [18] Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.
We are to live in this world, yet differently to the world. In fact Jesus clearly states that we are sent into the world. We are not to escape this world but to live in a way that honours and glorifies God in this world.
God's promise to the people of Israel was that he would place a new spirit within them. When they returned to follow him, and do away with the evil practices and customs of the world, he would change them from people with hard, stony hearts and transform them into people with a tender and responsive heart.
Ezekiel 11:19-20 NLT
[19] And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, [20] so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.
This is also God's promise to us. It is a rebirth, just as Jesus told Nicodemus he must be born again (John 3). God wants us all to know this rebirth, to be born of the Spirit. He wants us all to be transformed. When we choose to become followers of Jesus, God gives us a new spirit within. We are a new creation.
My second set of thoughts then is around the nature of our hearts. Have we made the decision to be a follower of Jesus, handing our life over to him? (Or are we still holding onto bits of the old self wanting to rule our own lives?)
And if so, where are we holding onto old ways of stubbornness and hardness of heart when God wants to give us a tender heart that is responsive to him? Responsive to his transforming power in our lives and responsive to his heart for a hurting world.
It is only by allowing God's ongoing transformation (for it is an ongoing work) in our lives that we can become the people God has planned for us to be and to change the world in which we live by being examples of his love and grace in the world. It is both a work of grace which is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-10) and an application of that work in our lives (Phil 2:12,13).
Father I pray that we will live differently in the world around us and have a tender and responsive heart to you and to the people you love.
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