The Simple Life

But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. Ezekiel 3:7 (ESV)   On a winter evening, when the frost is setting in with growing intensity, and when the sun is now far past the meridian, and gradually sinking in the Western sky, there is a double reason why the ground grows every moment harder and more impenetrable to the plough. On the one hand, the frost of evening, with ever-increasing intensity, is indurating the stiffening clods. On the other hand, the genial rays, which alone can soften them, are every moment withdrawing and losing their enlivening power. Take heed that it be not so with you. As long as you are unconverted, you are under a double process of hardening. The frosts of an eternal night are settling down upon your souls; and the Sun of Righteousness with westering wheel, is hastening to set upon you for evermore. If, then, the plough...

And he said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart." Ezekiel 3:4-7 (ESV)   God commands Ezekiel to speak, then tells him that his speech will not matter. Ezekiel has a choice between obedience and apparent success. He chooses obedience.   I am commanded to love. I cannot control the results of that love. I need to love my family, my friends, and my enemies, regardless of how they respond to me. This kind of love demonstrates commitment, whereas most modern day "love" demonstrates arrangements.   Christians...

And he said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. Ezekiel 3:4-7 (ESV)   It's tough to speak to your hometown. A prophet and his message are usually not welcomed there, and your neighbors and acquaintances get upset when you challenge their lifestyles. You would think that those in your hometown, your family, would accept a message from God through you if you were a prophet, yet that usually does not happen. Perhaps when a prophet speaks to his home crowd, he actually knows about what to speak, and the truth becomes...

"But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you." And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. And he said to me, "Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. Ezekiel 2:8 - 3:3 (ESV)   The consumption of God's Word sustains the man of God. We are promised that God's Word will never return "void," therefore, feasting upon it is wise. The rebellious attempt to find sustenance apart f...

And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 2:6-7 (ESV)   What if God gave us an assignment that brought us no apparent value? What if we essentially got "nothing" out of serving God? The question itself, in one way, is absurd, for those who obey God will always receive a blessing. However, the blessing will not be in the form of comfort, worldly success, fame, riches, fortune, power, or authority.   Ministries that must evaluate their success by numbers have made the numbers their god. Success is always measured by obedience alone.   Stephen, Daniel, Noah, and others gave a message that few, if any, listened to. It was not their preaching results that made them successful...

And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 2:6-7 (ESV)   "The prophets of the Lord have always been opposed to the age in which they lived. Whenever the ministry has fallen into accord with the age, it is not the age that has gone up, it is the ministry that has gone down. A reproachful, corrective, stimulating voice should always be characteristic of a spiritual ministry. No evil shall be able to live in its presence, and no custom, how fashionable or popular soever, should be able to lift up its head without condemnation in the presence of a man who is filled with the burden or doctrine of the Lord. Evermore shall the wicked hate the godly, unless the godly take down their banne...