READING: Ezekiel 40-42
I can remember my mom saying it to me: “Pay attention to me.” I said it to students when I taught ninth-grade English as a long-term substitute: “It’s time to pay attention.” I’ve even said something like it when I preach or teach: “Put your pencils down. Close your computers. Give me your eyes. Put your focus right here.” All of us — parent, teachers, preachers, bosses, etc. — say something similar when we want our listeners to give us their undivided attention.
Even God says it, too. In today’s reading, Ezekiel’s guide in his vision said to him, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see” (Ezek 40:4). Ezekiel was carried in a vision to a mountain in the land of Israel, where God would show him something he must then relay to the exiles. God took him there to show him what he must teach.
Few of us have such visionary experiences, of course, and I don’t want to over-apply this text; however, there are similarities in the way God directs us. Sometimes He leads us into a situation where He wants to show us something — to teach us some truth — so that we might then turn around and teach truth to others. At times He leads us to mountaintop experiences so we might teach about His blessings in victory; in other cases, He directs us into deep valleys so we might teach others about His faithfulness in the trial. Day to day, He reveals Himself to us so we might make Him known to others. Our daily task is to do what Ezekiel’s guide told him: look carefully to see what God is revealing to us; listen deeply to what He is saying; pay close attention to what He is teaching us; then, tell others what we learn.
In fact, these simple words remind us how to live every day, so hear them again. Look at what He’s doing. Listen to what He says. Pay attention to what He’s teaching. Go, tell others.
ACTION STEPS:
- Pray for your pastor, who today must teach what the Lord is showing him.
- Focus on this kind of faithfulness today: look, listen, pay attention, and tell.
PRAYER: “Lord, thank You for loving me enough to capture my attention even when I’m looking in the wrong direction. Help me not to miss anything You’re teaching me today.”
TOMORROW¹S READING: Ezekiel 43-45
