Daily Devotion (January 7, 2025)
Ezekiel 3:16–21
16 Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”
It is an awesome responsibility, but the call is there. All Christians have the call of God in their lives. We first need to know God. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Be sure you are not following the wrong god. Yes, there is only one God, but many will exchange the One True God for the false god…Satan.
The Christians responsibility is not to save but to warn. We are to warn the lost of the consequences of their sin. We are to be witnesses to the lost. I will not repeat stories from the past but will say God does bring people into our lives for a purpose. We are to warn, share with the lost their fate.
There is a greater warning God gives in vv. 20-21. What is the warning? It is turning away from God. “If he has stopped being righteous and has committed transgressions against God’s law, he is in danger of earthly death.”
Paul’s advice in 1 Corinthians 10:12 must be taken seriously by the professing Christian: “let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” is possible for a Christian to fall? Yes! Professing Christians who choose to rebel against God are in danger of experiencing God’s divine wrath. Witness, let others see Jesus in you and share His love with the world.