For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Fire is used to test the purity of gold and silver, but you can measure a person by how they react to praise. No matter what you do, or how hard you try, a fool will not give up his foolish ideas. If by some chance you do convince a fool that one of his ideas is foolish, he will replace it with another just as foolish.

    The psalmist reminds us that the glory for our successes should go to God. Any success which I have in this life is because of God’s mercy and grace. It was His gifts to me which made me able to accomplish anything of worth. It is not I who deserves the credit, but rather God.

    Today’s passage starts out with four instructions that all fit together. We are to continue loving each other, show hospitality to strangers, and remember those suffering (being imprisoned and mistreated are both forms of suffering) as if we were experiencing that suffering ourselves.
    The next couple of things fit together with these as well. Everyone should honour marriage, even those who are not married. Those of us who are married must remain faithful to our spouse. Those who are not married should encourage those who are married to remain faithful to each other. Remaining faithful to your husband or wife involves more than just sex.
    The final point that stands out to me today is “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This does not mean that we should resist change. However, as the writer points out, it does mean that we should reject new teachings, that is, teachings which do not have their basis in the Bible. It is sometimes argued that the anti-slavery movement represented a new teaching because slavery is mentioned in the Bible, even in the New Testament, and not condemned (it can be argued that it was even indirectly supported). However, the anti-slavery movement was against a culture which viewed certain people as less than human. The anti-slavery movement arose when all slaves in Western Civilization were derived from the same racial background and enslaving them was justified on the basis of claiming that they were not truly human. Such a claim is counter to the teachings of the Bible, even those places where it discusses slavery. As a result, the anti-slavery movement relied on Christian teachings of long standing. Some more recent teachings rely on the claim that loving my neighbor means not confronting him or her about behaviors which cause them to be distanced from God. I cannot accept that approach.

    Ezekiel returns once more to the theme of the watchman. There are two points to this metaphor. The first is that God does not take pleasure from the death and destruction of the wicked. He would rather that they turn from their wicked behavior and live. The death and destruction of the wicked is only inevitable if they keep on sinning. The second point of this metaphor is that it is our duty as servants of God to warn people of the death and destruction which is coming for them. Do we love those around us enough to warn them of the dangers inherent in their sinful behavior? Have we spoken out as loudly against greed as we have against sexual sins? Have we warned those who oppress the poor that their actions will lead to their destruction as surely as sexual sins will lead to the destruction of those who partake in them?
    Ezekiel than goes on to speak about those spiritual leaders who use their position to enrich themselves rather than to care for the flock. Spiritual leaders who are more interested in what is in it for themselves than in the needs of the people they lead. They do not assist the weak, nor care for the sick. They do bind the wounds of the injured, nor go searching for the lost. While he is discussing his condemnation of spiritual leaders, Ezekiel makes his first comment directed at all of us. Not only did the spiritual leaders not go looking for the lost, no one else did either. Ezekiel continues by warning us that God will judge even the common person for their actions. God will judge between the “fat” sheep and the “skinny” sheep. What role have we played in driving others away from God? Have we kept the best “grazing” for ourselves and trampled the rest? Have we bullied the weak and driven them from God?

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     God calls on Ezekiel to be a watchman for the people of Israel. A watchman is tasked with watching for danger. If he sees danger and warns the people, yet they do not act, the watchman is not held accountable for their suffering. On the other hand, if the watchman sees danger and fails to warn the people, the watchman will be held accountable for the losses the people suffer. In the same way, if Ezekiel failed to speak out in an attempt to dissuade the wicked from their wicked ways, God would hold him accountable for their suffering.

     I believe that this passage is a calling to us today to warn people around us of the dangers of sin. We are not called to judge people. We are called to tell people that actions have consequences. When those actions are sinful, those consequences will be undesirable. On the other hand, righteous actions will have positive consequences. If someone is sinning, is doing things which are destructive to themselves and to others, if they turn from that sin and start to behave in a righteous manner, they will receive the consequences of those righteous acts. On the other hand if someone has been behaving righteously and begins to sin, their previous righteousness will not spare them from the consequences of their sinful behavior.
     The next part of the passage addresses us today as well. The people were going to consult with Ezekiel not in order to hear the word of God and change their lives but rather to be entertained. How many of us today go to Church services expecting to be entertained? How often are our Church services designed to entertain those who come, rather than to deliver the life-changing word of God?

     The writer concludes his letter with some basic exhortations. He tells us to empathize with those who are imprisoned and those who are being mistreated. We are to honor marriage and those of us who are married are to remain faithful to our spouse. He reminds us not to love money, but rather to be content with what we have, because God will provide for our needs. If we remain content with what God has given us and rely on his providence, we can face all of life with confidence.
     He reminds us that God does not change. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. This means that the Gospel message and God’s instructions are not going to change either. We should not get caught up with novel, new ideas. While this does not mean that we do not change what we believe, it does act as a corrective against ideas that are sold as brand new. I cannot count the number of times that I have heard people argue that some Scripture no longer applies because, “things were different when that was written.” Times do indeed change, but God does not.
     There is one final point which the writer touches on that I want to highlight. He writes that under the old covenant, the bodies of the sacrifices were burned outside of the camp. In the same manner, Jesus offered Himself up as a sacrifice outside of the city gates. We are to go outside of the camp to Him, separating ourselves from this world just as He did. This world is not our home, we are still looking forward to that day when we will go to our home in heaven with God. We are not citizens of an earthly kingdom, rather we are citizens of God’s kingdom.

     The psalmist reminds us that we are not to do things in order to gain glory for ourselves, nor should we accept glory for our actions. The credit for anything praiseworthy which I may have done goes to God. If not for Him, and what His Spirit has done within me, I would never have done anything worthy of praise. I will praise the Lord and will act so as to bring glory to His name.

     Gold and silver are tested for purity by putting them through fire, but we are tested by how we react when others praise us. When people praise us for things we have done, it is all too easy to forget the One who is truly responsible for our successes. A fool will not give up his foolishness no matter how much trouble it brings him.