READING: Ezekiel 20-21
TEXTS AND APPLICATION: As a young believer, I tried so hard to overcome my sin. I prayed, read books, sought advice — anything I could do as a teenage guy to figure out how to live in victory. What I didn’t realize then was that the problem I faced was not a lack of strategies for overcoming my sin; it was a lack of hatred for my sin. I hung on to my sin because some part of my heart wanted to.
The Hebrews did that, too. In Ezekiel 20, we again read of the notorious history of the Israelites. God called them out of Egypt and told them to leave their idols behind — but still they held on to their false gods. Indeed, they would fall into the foolishness of worshiping idols that were but “wood and stone” (Ezek. 20:32). We’re no less foolish when we hold on to our idols, whatever they may be.
However, when God would restore His people after the exile, they would come to a thorough and deep repentance:
Ezek. 20:43 There you will remember your ways and all your deeds that you have defiled yourselves with, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil things you have done.
Here’s what I didn’t realize as a teenage believer (and, frankly, what I’m still learning more than forty years later):
- True repentance comes when we see how holy God really is (Ezek. 20:12, 20, 39-40). When we see ourselves in His light, we can only be broken over our wrong.
- True repentance comes when we realize how gracious God really is. He did not give up on His people even when they turned to other gods; He preserved them for His name’s sake and for His witness to the nations around them (Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22). They had been traitors, but He would turn them to be a sweet aroma to Him (Ezek. 20:41). That’s amazing grace.
- True repentance includes disgust over my sin. That truth shows me just how much I need God to keep changing my heart every day.
I say it again: my problem as a teen — and now — was not a lack of strategies for overcoming my sin; it was a lack of hatred for my sin.
PRAYER: “God, turn me to You while turning me from my sin. Fill me with disgust over that which displeases Your holy name. Replace that with wonder over Your holiness and grace. Please, God.”
TOMORROW¹S READING: Ezekiel 22-23