This is the heading for one section of my devotional reading today. I'm reading in Ezekiel about how he was called by God to be His voice to the people and what God asked him to do to present His message to those people. I can't imagine how I would have responded to God's requests. He tells Ezekiel to lie on his left side for nearly 13 months and "put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself." Each day he lay there represented one year of Israel's sin. Then, when that time had passed, God asked him to flip to the other side and lay there for 40 days - each day representing a year of the sin of the house of Judah. Then God tells Ezekiel to bake his bread over human excrement, but Ezekiel pleads his case for never having defiled himself, so God allows him to bake it over cow dung - yuck! Not only that, Ezekiel has to shave his head and God gives specific directions as to what he is to do with his hair. There are a few other things God asks of Ezekiel, but I think you might get the idea. It's not a walk in the park!
Most of us would (at least I would) cry out and say "Unfair!! Why must I suffer humiliation and extreme discomfort just so you can get your point across to a bunch of losers who just don't get it - and probably still won't! I mean, after all God - how many times have you already told them this? Is me doing all of this really going to make a difference?" I don't know the rest of Ezekiel's story yet - whether or not the people saw what he did and were impacted by it - but I don't know that it even matters. Isn't the point, really, whether or not we'll obey God in whatever He tells us to do?
A friend once said to me, "Everyone wants to be a servant until they get treated like one." Ouch! How often do we (I) exclaim - "Yes!! Yes, God, I will follow you - whatever that means!" and then the first time trouble comes or He asks us to step outside our expectations and plans do we throw in the towel or just gripe and complain? "That's too hard!" "God wouldn't ask me to suffer like this!" Oh really? We ask God to use us and then when He does, we want to cry because we feel "used".
I'll admit - the thought that God wants to use me as He wills scares the heck out of me! What does God want from me? Everything. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been reminded of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20..."You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price." I am not my own. But honestly, how scary is that? Not very. I know that God has my best interest at heart and even though He might require difficult things of me, He will be right there with me as I go through it. Besides that, He will get the glory and isn't that what it's really all about? It's all about Him, not me.
Yesterday, I had someone tell me they felt sorry for me because I didn't indulge in a certain activity because I believe and live by the idea "I do not belong to myself...I've been bought with a high price." I've never had that happen before. I've never been pitied because I live for Jesus. This person told me I was "missing out" and all I could think was how much he was missing out on, because he allows his life be controlled by this one thing. His vision is narrowed by his pursuit of satisfying himself first and foremost. Sure, I may not get to experience certain things, or I might have to do without all the trappings of this life, but when I'm standing next to Jesus in heaven, I just think I won't care. I'll be with Him. What else is there?
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