Ezekiel 33:7-9 - by Don Neuendorf
I know, I know. Why wasn't I posting all week? You don't want to know. I'd just clutter these pages with whining.
Of course, I wouldn't be alone, would I? Think of Ezekiel. God called Jeremiah to preach the bad news to Israel - that they would be defeated and taken off into exile. But Jeremiah got to stay behind in Jerusalem.
God called Ezekiel to go along with the exiles on the long march to Babylon. And then he has to make a life there and tell the people to settle down and get used to it - God is not going to rescue them anytime soon. In fact, he would soon destroy their proud city...
So Ezekiel got preaching assignments like this:
* lay on your side for days and days to show the people how the city will be beseiged.
* leave your house through a hole in the wall to remind them of the people who will leave Jerusalem through the rubble.
*And I can't remember the rest off the top of my head.
Not a job to be happy about, is it? But God tells the prophet why his work is so important. "Son of man, I have made you a watchman..."
God has called you to be an object lesson too. Your life, your behavior, your illnesses, your prosperity or poverty, your purchases, your work, your worship... all of it is a message to the people around you. YOU are a watchman to the people around you, to tell them God's truth!