Scripture Verse that Caught my attention Today: Ezekiel 20:13c-14 Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make an end of them. 14 But I acted for the sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.
Observation: Several times in these chapters it is proclaimed that God withheld the wrath for the sake of God’s name.
Application: Reputations can be important. One doesn’t want a good reputation destroyed and it’s natural and appropriate to endeavor to live up to a good reputation if it indeed fits. On the human side of things one has to remember that we are nevertheless all sinful at one level or another. So it’s never about being perfect but, rather, being real and striving, in response to God’s unconditional love, for the greater good.
On the Godly side of things, however, the stakes are higher. On the one hand, God can do whatever God wants. God is God. But on the other hand the Scriptures, curiously, paint a portrait of a God who does care, shall we say, about what the neighbors think. Early on it was Moses and a few other leaders who actually used this rationale with God in a successful attempt to curtail God’s wrath. Here in Ezekiel we see God claim this rationale personally. As has been said, “where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.”
Prayer: Lord, thanks for the grace that you extend to each of us and to your people as a whole. Help us to respond in kind. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Scripture Readings today included: Ezekiel 20-21, Psalm 111, Revelation 8)
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