Repent and live!

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

There are some big downs and ups in these words from God through Ezekiel, and it’s such a large-scale national exercise of judgement and correction, it would be easy to think that some people might be unfairly swept along with the rest. Is that how God treats people?

I love the proverb at the start of chapter 18 showing how closely people thought their experiences were shared within families or across generations more widely: “The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” That’s an impressive family bond! It’s also a convenient excuse for blaming one’s own misfortune on someone else’s poor choices.

While disaster seems to be affecting everyone who is forced to move, starving or battling to live, I love that God offers hope, firstly here to the individual who breaks the chain of bad examples leading to bad behaviour in their own life. That gives everyone the chance to change their minds (‘repent’) and live. God promises “a new heart and a new spirit” when people do. Does that sound familiar, like what we are seeing fulfilled around people following Jesus, either in person or (as we’re finding in Acts) responding to other followers’ calling?

I wish I knew how many people found that new heart and spirit at the time of Ezekiel. God’s subsequent pictures of the national woe don’t suggest this was a time of celebration. We saw earlier that God was looking for people who would lament Israel’s fall, and God provides poetic imagery to share that sad picture. As heart crushing as it sounds, I can imagine the youngest people in the country finding at least a bit of comfort that their world is not just scary, rotten and failing. They come from strength and fruitfulness in their family history. Without knowing that, how could they have hope for restoration?

I also love that God promises that renewal will follow, after mapping out again the story of why life would be disrupted for considerable time. When God talks about rebellion, and everyone seems to think this is someone else’s fault, I find it scary to think that from God’s point of view, he really is referring to just about everybody, even (perhaps especially) the people who think they are morally the best compared with others. Pride, like idols, gets between us and God. But I love that God still promises a way back and restoration to come.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God keeps working to bring people back to himself. He expects a standard of life and fruitfulness when people are reconciled to him, and for people in Ezekiel’s time that seems best measured by following laws. For us following Jesus, we can thank God for receiving his promised new heart and spirit already. These can guide us into wanting what God wants.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I will continue to spend more time talking and listening to God as I want to improve my understanding of what his heart and spirit want in everyday life. This guides what I do!

Who am I going to share this with?

I’m thankful that a work-related chance to share faith and practical love did come up today. I’m praying that God will continue to work there as well as in other conversations soon.