Wise Choices
Your doom has come, injustice has blossomed, pride has budded. (Ezek. 7:10)
Ezek. 7:1-10; Deut. 27:21-26; Prov. 4:23, Hos. 10:12, Matt. 12:35; Gal. 6-8
What Is God Saying?
Chapter 7 of Ezekiel does not make for pleasant reading. This whole sect10n finds Ezekiel telling the first wave of captives (of which he was one) that they had better not get their hopes up. There was no intention of an early return to Jerusalem. We should not take lightly the warnings of God concerning Israel's unbelief and pride. God means what He says. "Your doom has come." Far from going home soon, more captives joined them in the tidal wave of Jerusalem's imminent destruction (586 B.C.). In this pivotal moment in Israel's history, Ezekiel, prompted by his love for God and his people, tells it like it is, "Your doom is not going to come. It's here."
Israel rebelled against God's ordinances and suffered. They made increasingly frequent excursions into idolatry. The dominant theme of Ezekiel is, "They shall know that I am the Lord." This actual phrase is repeated 62 times and found in 27 of the 48 chapters of Ezekiel. God destroyed nations because of their idolatrous customs. God punished Israel with captivity. Through this experience, they got the message- nothing and no one can take the place of God.
How Does This Apply To Us?
In Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas Future gave Ebenezer Scrooge a vision that changed him by showing him where his mean and miserly spirit was leading. He begged for another chance. He was able to remedy his ways and avoid the dreadful scenario of his tormented dreams. His joy overflowed. Indeed, the clear witness of Scripture is that we are sowing seeds now that will turn into a harvest.
"Be not deceived, God is not mocked: whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Gal. 6:7).
Injustice has a way of blossoming, and its flowers are p01son. Pride has a way of budding, and its fruit is bitterness. God lifts the veil on the future to show those whom He loves how to make the nght ch01ces and sow the right seeds. The commandments of God are not suggestions. Live by His rules and live. Go against them and expect punishment. We have two choices--do as we please or do what pleases God. Either way, we will come to know that "God is the Lord" for He will make some seeds come to fruition in the joy of a blessed harvest and others in the misery of a blighted harvest.
Pray With Me
Lord, before seeds of injustice or pride are carefully planted or carelessly dropped into my heart, let me remember that "whatever a person sows that they will also reap." Forgive me for my excuses. I am very good at condemning others while condoning myself, thinking that they face nothing like the opposition I do. There is just a little scorn for the grossly wicked and a little disregard for the petty and piteous sins that get lodged in my own heart. There is just a little contempt for those who have not had the strength or the will to climb the ladder, and just a little feeling of superiority when I consider what I see as my advantage.
Now and then, there is a little trying to "take the speck out of my brother's eye" while forgetting that "there may be a log in my eye." Let these seeds find no place in my heart, 0 God. Your Word makes it very clear-when injustice has blossomed and when pride has budded, it brings a dark harvest. At the foot of the Cross, pride is slain, and injustice has no power. Keep me near the Cross, Lord, for there humility can be with strength and there can I be true to You, to myself, and others.
For Jesus' sake, Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Under the microscope of prayer, we can see the seeds of thoughts and desires. In prayer, we nourish the seeds that will blossom into good deeds, and we eliminate the seeds that will grow into bad weeds. Prayer shows us how to choose the things that God can bless
• from tiny beginnings to visible fruit,
• from holy, loving thoughts to wholesome, loving deeds,
• from pure desires to productive living.
