The Simple Life

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there. Ezekiel 1:1-3 (ESV)   Ezekiel, a prophet and priest, was exiled to Babylon in 597B.C. His ministry extended over at least twenty-three years. The book opens with his first dramatic vision of the "likeness" of the Lord himself. (ESV Strong's)   A leader needs to know God. A leader needs to respond to God. A leader, in essence, is a good follower of God and loves Him by obedience and loves others by pointing to Him.   Leadership should focus on obedience to God and demonstrating God to those around them. Any power, authority, and resources they possess are vali...

Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us. Lamentations  5:21-22  (ESV)   Or, as translated in the NLT version: Restore us, O LORD, and bring us back to you again! Give us back the joys we once had! Or have you utterly rejected us? Are you angry with us still? Lamentations  5:21-22  (NLT)   When I read this verse, I am reminded of a simpler time in youth when life was exciting, discovery was a daily occurrence, and my parents took care of all the serious problems in life. As a boy, my job was to enjoy being a boy, to enjoy discovering and learning, to exercise, to grow, and to be obedient to my parents.   In many ways, being a boy in a loving household was ideal. I got to enjoy life while leaving the worries to those who could do something about it. (I don't remember ever thinking about where the money for the food we ate came from, or ...

But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. Why do you forget us forever, why do you forsake us for so many days? Lamentations  5:19-21  (ESV)   "It is a turning of the soul to the Lord. Not to creeds, not to churches, but to the Lord Himself, as the object of supreme love. The centering of the whole soul upon Him. If the Lord is loved supremely, He will be the dominant subject of thought, the leading theme of conversation, the paramount sovereign of life. It is a turning of the soul to the Lord by the Lord. No one can turn the human soul to God but Himself. A man may as well endeavor to roll back the Mississippi to its mountain springs as to turn back the soul to the Lord; He alone can do it, and He does it by the influence of nature, historic events, Gospel truths, and Christly ministries." ( Homilist )   God does not abandon us; He does not move. We are the ones who often move slowly away from Him and then wonder where He has gone. ...

Princes are hung up by their hands; no respect is shown to the elders. Young men are compelled to grind at the mill, and boys stagger under loads of wood. The old men have left the city gate, the young men their music. The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning. The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned! For this our heart has become sick, for these things our eyes have grown dim, for Mount Zion which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it. Lamentations  5:12-18  (ESV)   In time, the weak things in this life will become evident. Human wisdom, strength, resources, power, and position eventually prove unreliable. Eventually, we see that faith, and faith alone, that is demonstrated by obedience, is the source of strength.   One day, all mankind will see that the source of all knowledge, wisdom, strength, significance, and security is God alone, and they will wish that they had rested in Him instead of whatever else th...

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. Our pursuers are at our necks; we are weary; we are given no rest. We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, to get bread enough. Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities. Slaves rule over us; there is none to deliver us from their hand. We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness. Our skin is hot as an oven with the burning heat of famine. Lamentations 5:1-10 (ESV)   Our ideas have consequences. Our choices are byproducts of our ideas. We need to guard our ideas as much as our actions, for our actions will always follow our ideas.   When we think we can live independently from God, we start making choices apart from His wisdom, guidan...

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. Our pursuers are at our necks; we are weary; we are given no rest. We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, to get bread enough. Our fathers sinned, and are no more; and we bear their iniquities. Slaves rule over us; there is none to deliver us from their hand. We get our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness. Our skin is hot as an oven with the burning heat of famine. Lamentations 5:1-10 (ESV)   "The Jews are orphans; they have lost their fathers, and their mothers are widows. The series of illustrations of the degradation of Israel seems to be arranged somewhat in the order of time and in accordance with the movement of the people." (W. F. Adeney)   Since we ar...