Contemplative Bible Reading

Ezekiel 33:11 (New Living Translation)

11 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?

God is speaking to the people through the prophet Ezekiel. God encourages Ezekiel to warn the people before it is too late. Seems like an easy job? No, it isn’t.

Living in sin dooms the people to death. That is a plain statement, but it is hard to hear. The prophet expands on God’s warning in great detail. It didn’t get the message across. The people continued to ignore God and suffered from the result.

Pleasure? No. God had no pleasure in this. Death was a consequence. Much of that consequence was natural—a natural result of the lifestyle of sin. It grieved God. It grieved those who shunned evil and had to witness death.

A sinful life, a life full of sin, may have its pleasures here and there, now and then. It ultimately leads to death. It ultimately leads to pain, suffering, and anguish. Let us all please listen to these ancient words that are still true and urgent.