Seventh Day Baptist
Christian Education Council
PO BOX 1678
Janesville, WI 53547
“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?
“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.”
(ESV)
—Ezekiel 18:25-32
by: Dale Rood.
The heart of God is for life! He gets no pleasure in punishing for wickedness. Therefore, his heart cry is for his people to turn away from sin and unrighteousness that they might live. The problem is doing so means admitting two things. The first is admitting our own sinfulness and that our ways are "unequal." The second is admitting God's justness and that his ways are "equal." That is not easy for us to do. Among other things it means facing change in our lives, perhaps at a point we don't want to change. Is there anything that needs to change in your life?