Contemplative Bible Reading

Ezekiel 18:31 (New Living Translation)

31 Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel?

There is a sermon in every phrase in this sentence.

Let’s consider the first one. God is talking to the people through the prophet Ezekiel. The people have lived sin-filled lives. Sure they sin; sure we all sin, but these people at this time were full of sin and rebelling against what they were taught.

Righteousness was no where to be found. What should they do? Put all the rebellion behind you. Simple. Yesterday is gone. We start fresh, right here, right now.

What’s the catch? There must be a catch. Sure there is a “catch.” There are many catches. My mortgage still exists. My car note still exists. My extra 50 pounds stretching my pants and making it hard to breathe still exists. Those are big catches.

Those are temporary and tiny catches compared to what is ahead. Eternity with God is farther away from my mortgage than the sky is the from the ink stains on a piece of paper that tell me how much I still owe on my house.

What’s the catch? There is no catch. God forgives. God doesn’t forget, but God acts as if yesterday never happened. God wants me to act as if yesterday never happened. God enables me to act as if yesterday never happened. That is one of the countless blessings from God.

All I have to do … sigh. All I have to do is put my rebellion behind me. Please God, help me push myself out of my own way and do it.