READING: Ezekiel 33-34, 1 Peter 5
“I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel.”
Ezekiel 33:7
I remember the first time I heard these words: “If you don’t tell people about Jesus and they die lost, their blood will be on your hands.” I was a young believer, and the speaker was a passionate, fiery, concerned evangelist. I don’t recall his tying the words strongly to the book of Ezekiel, but I know his words left an impression on me. I wasn’t wise enough at the time to understand the image of the blood, and all I could see in my mind was the blood of my family and friends on my hands. The result was that I told anybody and everybody about Jesus.
Those images still bounce around in my head when I read God’s words to Ezekiel: “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me. If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked one, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he doesn’t turn from it, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your life” (Ezek. 33:7-9). While I still recognize from this text my fundamental responsibility and accountability to tell people about Christ, I’m also now more aware of this simple truth: the work of the watchman is seldom an easy task.
Sometimes the task of the watchman is to warn people of coming judgment if they do not repent and turn to God. We would hope others would hear about the love of God and thus run to His arms. For some of us, though (like me), it was the reality of hell that God first used to awaken me to my need for a Savior. My 12-year-old classmate who told me about hell was perhaps not the greatest evangelist, but he was certainly playing the role of the watchman in my life. He warned me well – and for those efforts I will be eternally grateful.
ACTION STEPS:
- As painful as it may be, ponder today the coming judgment of God for those who do not know Him.
- Pray fervently for God’s wisdom and strength to warn others as needed.
PRAYER: “Father, I need Your wisdom to speak to others the truth in love. Help me.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Ezekiel 35-36, 2 Peter 1
