A Radiant Face

photo by Ben White on Unsplash

I've been reading through the book of Ezekiel, and for the first time, I'm not struggling to stay awake. By the grace of God and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, I have been able to see this book I once thought was crazy and depressing and boring with fresh eyes.

These neweyes see the depth of the character of God - the only god I've ever heard of who is perfectly just and maintains his purity and reputation yet at the same time grieves over the sin that separates His people from Himself and longs to have mercy on them again and again. Praise the Name of the Lord!

Ezekiel 1:26-28

And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Holy.

Ezekiel 9:4

And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”

Heartbroken.

Ezekiel 11:12

"...and you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.”

Just.

Ezekiel 11:19-20

"And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God..."

Merciful.

Ezekiel 13:23

"...They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”

Righteous.

Ezekiel 18:23

"Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?"

This. This is the heartbeat of God. He is Holy, Just and Righteous. He will maintain His perfect character and reputation. He will not tolerate sin. Yet, His heart longs to be in communion with the beings He created to bear His image. He is heartbroken over our disobedience, and He is the Merciful One who has provided the Way to be united with His Holiness. Jesus Christ, God and Man, makes this union possible.

He is calling you. Will you respond?

Ezekiel 18:32

"For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

Photo by tu tu on Unsplash

I power-cleaned my house today because I have a few guests coming next week. Unfortunately, I struggle with discipline, a large house and a 6-month-old. The last two items in that list are wonderful gifts from God, but they both require a lot of maintenance, and without discipline, it's a bit of a challenge.

I love having my house freshly cleaned, the stairs thoroughly vacuumed, floors picked up and counters bare. It feels peaceful and fresh. However, due to my undisciplined nature, it doesn't take long for those counters to collect mail and dishes and groceries and all sorts of things and the floors to be spread with baby toys and empty Amazon boxes. My house needs regular cleaning and daily tidying to maintain its status as a haven of rest, but it rarely gets such routine attention.

Jesus talks about the importance of "cleaning house" in Luke 11:24-26:

"When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first."

This is a sobering illustration. I don't feel like I'm equipped to talk about demons tonight, but these truths apply to habitual sin, as well. When we recognize our sin for what it is and sweep it from our hearts and minds but don't take measures to avoid temptation or develop systems to deal with future sin (confess and repent immediately, for example), we are guaranteed to fall right back into those old patterns. We may have a "clean house," but it won't last unless we develop a "cleaning routine" and stick to it.

Perhaps this analogy seems weak to some of you; I bet you don't have much cleaning to do on the regular. ;) However, this is very real to me now, both the cleaning of the house and the cleaning of the heart, and I hope many of you can identify with these words and be urged to develop some systems, hard as they be, to ensure consistency in both areas of your life.

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