Don't ignore God
"Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?'” (NIV) Ezekiel 33:11
Ezekiel was one of God’s prophets in the Old Testament times during Israel’s exile to the land of Babylon. His message in Ezekiel 33:11 shows God’s frustration with the people for their sinful behavior. Looking at the problem of sin from God’s perspective, it becomes clear why He would be so frustrated with people who decide to turn against Him. The Israelites were a people that God “chose” for Himself as a treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6); a people that He loved and wanted the very best for. How frustrating it must have been for Him to display His great power by delivering them from Egypt, sustaining them in the dessert and driving out other nations so they could inherit the Promised Land only to have the people continually offer sacrifices to other “gods” and ignore the true God that loved them so much.
Brothers and Sisters, are we ignoring our God today? “In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus is speaking to us today, are we listening? As the Hebrews verse says, we don’t have prophets coming to speak to us anymore but we do have something much better – the Word of God. We need to search it out daily so that God can “speak to us” through it and more importantly when we learn the message, we must live it out in our lives.
This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17)
God’s method for delivering His will may have changed between the time of the Prophets and now but the importance of us following His commands has not changed, and never will. God is still pleading with us today through His word to “Turn! Turn from your evil ways!” The question for us is: will we listen?
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation - but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:12-13)