The ink is actually still wet on this second circle in my bible as the “aha” moment came just the other day in my daily “quiet time” reading. (These won’t be in the order I circled them because many have been circled for a very long time and I have no idea when I did it). I have read Ezekiel several times now but this time around I noticed something I missed every other time. (Which is why it is important that exploring the Bible always must involve retracing your steps time and again with older and wiser eyes.)
It is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking these great prophets and men of God we read about in the Bible have always been regarded as great prophets and men of God. But the truth is at the time very few of them were. Many, like Jeremiah were considered traitors and cowards (Jeremiah was preaching surrender and go quietly into captivity when all the false prophets were regaling the king with promises of victory and how God will defend them and fight for them.) Many were hunted and hiding in caves and foreign countries from those not happy with their prophesies and their words from God.
And others, like Ezekiel it seems, were considered “light entertainment” and not to be taken too seriously. Apparently only later when all his prophesies indeed came to pass would Israel come to know a true prophet of God had been among them:-
Ezekiel 33:30-33
30 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. 33 “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
So what are we to take away from all of this. My own “aha” was that ministry and serving God is not measured by its “success”, its popularity, its “credibility”, its ability to make and keep everybody happy, its profitability, its “sustainability”, etc. These are how the world measures “success”.
Indeed the moment we make “outcomes” the goal of our ministry and service to God we have taken our eyes off the very purpose and reason for our ministry. Our purpose and ministry is always to simply serve the Lord by doing His will and obeying that which He has commanded just as Ezekiel and the other great men of God have always done. This is what a good and faithful servant does. This is what a loving and obedient son or daughter does.
A servant is not above their master. “Outcomes” are whatever the master seeks or intends when instructing his servants. For the servant however, the only measure of success is “have I done what my master has asked of me?”
The
good and faithful servant who is obedient but not always successful,
honours and glorifies their master by their obedience. The servant
who is successful but not obedient honours and glorifies only
themselves by their outward appearance of being successful. But as
servants they are condemned by their master for their disobedience
and disregard of his commands and instructions. For it was HIS will
that was not done.
D.J. Ludlow
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