August 17 - Ezekiel 5:1-9:11

Good morning everyone,

Wow! This is some super powerful scripture we read today. For sure! We begin with God having Ezekiel shave his head and then divide the hair up three ways; each pile a sign as to what was going to happen to God’s disobedient people. First off, in antiquity, shaving of the head or the beard signified mourning, humiliation and repentance, but what Ezekiel was to do with his hair, and remember yesterday I said God was going to have him get creative, God will deliver a message of absolute destruction for all of the Jews who had chose to not listen to the prophets and continued to worship idols. Please notice that a few of the hairs were, indeed, tucked into the folds of his robe which stood for the faithful who would be spared.

Now, I have just got to say that while this scripture sounds so harsh we must remember our God is a God who loves us more than we can ever begin to fathom and furthermore understand that this is not a single act of defiance that the people are getting judged for. Oh no! It is years and years and years of an accumulated life behavior pattern. It started with a wife of a different belief and in an effort to please his wife the man allowed her to have her one single “idol” in the house. Then there was him saying “yes” to the, “oh honey, won’t you sit with me while I pray to my idol and ask for ….. whatever” and it snowballed from there despite the many, many warnings and pleads from God through the prophets which He sent to remind them. Then, too, there was the already established pattern of their forefathers, not following God’s plan, getting into trouble with life, begging for help, God sending someone to rescue them only to have them do it all over again; put those same idols up, praying to them instead of God. They totally did not learn from history. Well, Yahweh, though long-suffering, had had enough. God loved them so much that He could not and would not let His chosen people continue to live in such a destructive manner and longer. God had told them what would happen “if” and God does not lie. 

God knows our behavior too and He loves us so much that He sent He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins, (a whole other devotional) but not only that He provided us with a Helper, Counselor, Comforter, the Holy Spirit. As a Christian, the Holy Spirit entered you, He entered me, when we decided to give our lives to Christ. We need to remember to continually ask the Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to help us do the things God wants us to do. We do not want to become stagnant or stuck in complacency but we should allow the Spirit to take control over more and more areas of our lives so that we can grow in God, become all that He planned for us to be. Make sense?

It's important to remember, too, that the Spirit will not prompt us to do anything that goes against Scripture. Sometimes we may think things like, “Oh, I prayed and God said it’s okay to live with so-n-so while we think about getting married.” Ummmm, no way! We need to make sure we're listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, not the voice of our own desires. Right? So before you go shaving your head and beard, validate what you are hearing with the Word of God. 

Romans 8:14-15 says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba,Father.” And all God’s people said ….. Amen!!!

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..