Sunday, August 1, 2010

WARNING! Does seeing this get your attention? I dare say that most of the time we probably ignore most warnings that come with the products we buy, the emails we receive, or the news briefs that come to our attention. When you buy a new product somewhere on the packaging or in the instructions you are going to come across this word. The warnings contained in the products you buy are there to protect the manufacturer more than to protect you because of liability litigation. It is sad, but true.

When it comes to our spiritual lives we might also prefer not to listen to the warnings or heed the warning signs. When we come to worship we expect the preacher and the other people in the assembly to be there to lift us up. We expect to open the word of God and hear a positive message from the Scriptures. So much of the world around us is filled with negative people and negative programming, church should be the bright spot. The bright spot can only shine brightest when you consider the warning God has for you.

Ezekiel was called to warn the nation of Israel that they were dying and more than that, they were lost and dying. The reason God sent Ezekiel to warn the people was because He loved them and wanted to bring them back, but He wasn’t going to pull them back against their will. In Ezekiel 3:16-21 Ezekiel was sent to tell the captives of Israel in Babylonia, “You shall surely die!” Some were wicked, some were righteous, all were dying and needed to know because even the righteous were in danger of their righteous deeds being forgotten if they slid back into wickedness.

This morning we are going to look closer at this warning and what it means to us as Christians today, because there is a warning here for us too. There are several ideas present in God’s message that are as true now as they were then because they are also taught by the New Testament. While we seek to be lifted up, to be truly lifted up, we must consider and heed God’s warning.