Gotta Speak

Today's Bible Reading: JEREMIAH 37:11-38:28, EZEKIEL 1:1-3:15

Ezekiel 2:7

And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

We all want to be heard. We feel like our words are valid and valuable. We believe that what we have to say is important and should not be discarded or dismissed. We deserve a hearing.

God spoke to His people through His prophets. Now he had called and commissioned Ezekiel to be His spokesperson to a stubborn and rebellious people. The Lord hoped that even though they would not listen to Him (Ezek 3:6), perhaps they would listen to one of their own and someone who was a priest among them (Ezek 1:3).

Unfortunately, they would not listen to him either. It wasn’t the messenger, but His message that they rejected. If they wouldn’t listen to God, then it was very unlikely that they would listen to anyone, priest or prophet, friend or foreigner that was sent by God.

We can have their same attitude toward what the Lord speaks to us in and through His word and by His workers. Whether it’s through a preached message, a Bible study lesson or our individual study of God’s word, we need to hear and heed what the Lord wants to communicate with us.

We cannot and we must not reject or refuse God’s word toward us. It is in Him and His words that we find the hope and help we need to manage all that life hurls at us. Rather than disregard it we must be like Ezekiel and digest it. We must “eat” the sweet scroll of Scripture then speak it to all we encounter (Ezek 3:1-10) regardless of “whether they hear or refuse to hear.” (Ezek 3:11). It is not about their response to what we recite, but our willingness to share it. We can’t let their faithlessness to listen to God destroy our faithfulness to speak for God. We gotta speak what has been spoken to us.

Today thank God that He is not silent, but regularly speaks to us. Ask Him to help you willingly and willfully desire and dedicate yourself to listen to what He says. Implore Him to enable you to speak what He speaks to you. Be a good listener as well as a faithful messenger.