Ezekiel's words from God echo Jeremiah's (Ezekiel 5-9). God is revealing His truth again and again through numerous people.
God has decided to repay His people for their unfaithful choices, choices that ignore God in their lives. Jerusalem's destruction is coming. Famine, sword, and plague will bring devastation.
God says,
"I will deal with them according to their conduct,
and by their own standards I will judge them.
There's such a huge part of me that wants to skip over so much of this part of our reading. And it's not because I don't want to hear what God has to say. It's because it's so difficult for me to think about what it must have been like to live life without God's everlasting grace that comes to us now through Jesus.
As we can see (over and over and over and over again), we just can't get it right on our own. Is it just me, or does it seem harder to be faithful without Jesus' example? How else are we to know the enormity of God's love for us?
I don't know about you, but I am sure thankful God doesn't judge me according to my own conduct and standards. I mess up way too much for that!
I found this snippet of good news in a promise God makes through Ezekiel about His judgement. God says,
"I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again."
There it is, friends. Things are different for us now than they were before Jesus. We can trust God. As we believe in Jesus and know that it's by God's grace we are saved from being judged according to our deeds, we find new life.
I found an important in this hard and messy reading- We are free to make choices in our lives. And, our choices matter.
We owe it to God to choose to make Him the center of our lives. Jesus showed us what that looks like, and the Holy Spirit is with us now to guide us in that direction.
And when we fall short, we have to choose to admit it to God by confessing our sins, all our mistakes big and little.
God's transforming grace frees us to be the people God designed us to be.
A prayer for today-
Dear God,
Thank You for Your Living Word that works its way into our hearts and transforms us. Thank You for Jesus who saves us, not by our words or deeds but by Your amazing grace.
Forgive me, Lord, for all the choices I make in my life that fall short of Your will. Guide me by Your Holy Spirit to know Your way and direction. Help me to rely on Your love and Jesus' example as I go through my days, and open my heart and mind to Your transforming grace.
Lord, I pray for _______________________ to know You and Your love. Fill him/her/them with Your presence.
You are our Rock and our Redeemer, Lord.
In the name of Your Son, Jesus, I pray,
Amen
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