Contemplative Bible Reading

Ezekiel 33:30-31 (New Living Translation)

30 “Son of man, your people talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors. They say to each other, ‘Come on, let’s go hear the prophet tell us what the Lord is saying!’ 31 So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money.

God is talking to the prophet Ezekiel about the behavior of many of the people. The people pretend that they desperately want to know what God has to say to them. The people pretend to be sincere, but they only seek money.

And guess what? They don’t pretend very well. Everyone knows that everyone is pretending. Everyone knows that no one will do what God tells them. It is a game.

God isn’t playing the game. God isn’t impressed with the pretending. And how stupid are the people to think that they are fooling God? Fools fooling around foolishly or something like that.

What is wrong with us? Why do we think we can fool God? Oh, we don’t do this today, do we? Yes, too often. I sincerely want to hear what God has to say. I will, however, only take that under consideration and balance it against my own brainpower and logic and all that. Fools fooling around foolishly or something like that. We are an odd lot.

God, please help me in my unbelief.