Ezekiel 3:10-11 – Be God’s uncompromising instrument.

In Ezekiel 3:4, we learned that Ezekiel was called to go and preach to the house of Israel. To do so effectively, God told the prophet in verse 10 that he was required first to be attentive to God’s words. He needed to adopt a posture that would encourage receptivity. God required him “to receive with his heart and listen with his ears.” Any true messenger of God must first be attentive and listen to know what God wants him to communicate. How else would he be able to know what message God wants him to say to His people?

In speaking to the people of Israel, Ezekiel was to be aware of these personal tendencies. So, God told him firmly in verse 11, “…go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.” Not only was Ezekiel required to be receptive to God he was also expected to speak boldly and fearlessly the message God wanted to be communicated.

Realise it or not, there are three desires all of us craze for, Ezekiel included. We all want to be accepted, approved and appreciated.  There is nothing wrong with them except that these desires can cause us to become overly self-absorbed. If we do not realize that the only acceptance, approval, and appreciation that truly matter is God’s, we will become self-centered. Wanting to be accepted can cause us as God’s messengers to adopt a compromising stun just to be accepted into the in-group. As a result, our message may be customized and rendered blunt and incapable of addressing the issue at hand.

It is important to know that our first and primary objective in life is to please God. Like Paul, we are God’s letter to the people we are a part of. While we want the world’s approval, acceptance, and appreciation, we must not compromise our standing and our message as children of God. Realize that we are first and foremost citizens of God’s Kingdom before we are citizens of the country we belong to. Hear afresh what Jesus said in John 15:19-20. “…If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world…. Remember ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”