Have You Turned from Wickedness?
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? When the righteous turn away from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die. ~Ezekiel 18:23-24
Wow. Do you ever feel bad for prophets? God gives them messages to deliver and, although the intent was to give people a chance to turn from their wickedness, more often than not in Scripture, they turned against the prophet–sometimes ignoring him, other times wanting him dead. I suppose things haven’t changed that much. People still do not want to be confronted with sin and yet, if they don’t repent, they too will die in their trespasses, cut off from the life that they could have had in Christ.
It’s easy to talk about “sinners,” but what about those in the Church who are not converted? First Peter 4:17 tells us, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
The beginning of the year is a good time to evaluate where you are in your walk with the Lord. I realize that you are most likely back with your nose to the grindstone, but a close relationship with the Lord is vital. It’s easy for the enemy to keep you too busy to have time for God. This can quickly breed indifference which can then lead to a life of sin before you realize how far away from Him you’ve gotten. Don’t let this happen to you.
I’ve been reading Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s book on Holiness which has opened my eyes to the fact that holiness is not just doing good things. We need to be full of the Spirit so that His holiness flows through us at which point we can be a light to a dark world that desperately needs Jesus.
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