Ezekiel 1-3
*Click here to read this passage:
“Son of man, I
have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and
give them warning from me. When I
say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak
out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked
man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.” (3:17-18)
I have this dream periodically that reoccurs in different forms
but always the same idea. These
dreams are the type that when you wake up they linger … they keep haunting
you. In these dreams there is
always something terrible happening to someone and I’m the only one around to
see it happening. And in the dream
I don’t do anything. I stay in the
house and watch from the window and do nothing. I don’t call for help.
I don’t leave the house to help.
I just try to pretend I don’t see it and forget about it.
Can you see why this would keep haunting me when I wake up? How horrible is that? But how often do I do this in some form
or another in real life? When I’m
surrounded by people in need and do not act … When I put my focus on other
things and push out the thoughts of people in trouble … When I’m too afraid to
take action, so I stay in my comfortable house …
God challenged Ezekiel saying that he would be the watchman for
God’s people, and he would be accountable if he didn’t take action to warn
them.
I recently heard an incredible speaker, Brene Brown, say this:
“You can have courage or you can have comfort – You can’t have both.”
I like what God says to Ezekiel in chapter 2 as well, when He
says, “You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen
…” We have to trust God for the
impact. That part is in His hands. Our job is to not be afraid, to not sit
idly by, and to do what He tells us to do.
Time to have courage and compassion and Do Something!
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