I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 17-19.

    When I got to Ezekiel’s message in chapter 18 it made me think about the fact that children often suffer for their parent’s sins by repeating those same sins. As an example, someone who was abused as a child often will end up abusing others when they become an adult. Another example, someone whose parent(s) was an alcoholic is much more likely to themselves be an alcoholic. God is saying here that it does not have to be that way. If we choose to not repeat our parent’s sins, God will not hold us accountable for those sins. Through Jesus Christ, God offers His Holy Spirit to heal us from our brokenness. Ezekiel’s message tells us that we should not judge people based on their parents either. If God is going to judge each person on their own merits, we should do the same.

    There is another side to this. If out parents were righteous but we choose to sin, we will suffer the consequences of our sin. More than that, if we have lived our lives righteously up to now, but start to sin, God will hold us accountable for our sins. On the other hand, if we have lived our lives steeped in sin but change and start to live righteously, God will reward us for our righteousness. Before I go on about what I think this means for us I want to mention that we will only be able to live righteously by the grace of God. For me, the point of this is that if we allow God to do so, He will transform us so that we can live righteously by His power. More importantly, we should not judge people by what they did in the past, only by what they are doing now. If someone was honest, good, and upright in the past, but now they lie, cheat, and steal, we should treat them accordingly. On the other hand, if they used to lie, cheat, and steal, but now they are honest, good, and upright, we should not treat them as if they still lie, cheat, and steal.