READING: Ezekiel 3:16-4:17, Jeremiah 27:1-28:17, Jeremiah 51:59-64
I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but I know I had not been a believer for long. I was already passionate about evangelism, but still I wondered if I were doing enough. I still had other family and friends who needed to know Jesus. Then, I heard my pastor speak something like this general summary of Ezekiel 3:17-18 – “We are called to be watchmen on the wall, always ready to warn others of coming judgment and direct them to Jesus. If we do warn them and they still reject our message, we will have done our task. If we don’t warn them and they reject God, however, we will be accountable to God for our failure. Their blood will be on our hands.” Needless to say, that message struck a chord with me.
More than that, however, I’m reminded today that God told the prophet to warn not only the wicked, but also the righteously obedient. They, too, would be tempted to sin, and they, too, needed “warners” in their lives: “if you warn the righteous person that he should not sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he listened to your warning, and you will have rescued yourself” (Eze 3:21). As one writer described this righteous person, even “if he was maintaining his righteousness he still needed the constant ministry of being warned not to sin. The saint needs the watchman’s warnings as much as the sinner does.”*
You and I, too, need watchmen and women in our lives.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Who are the watchmen or women in your life?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, make me willing to listen to others who speak into my life.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Ezekiel 5:1-9:11
* Taylor, J. B. (1969). Ezekiel: an Introduction and commentary (Vol. 22, p. 72). InterVarsity Press.