Embracing God's Word - Ezekiel 3:10-11

"Then Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not." In this commissioning of Ezekiel by God, there are two points that are especially relevant for disciples of Jesus. God told Ezekiel that he first had to internalize God’s messages himself before delivering them to the exiles among whom he lived. The point is that your own life should be transformed by God's Word before you proclaim words that God can use to transform other people's lives. The Holy Spirit needs to reveal the truth of God's Word to you so you can be faithful to God when opposition or other difficulties arise in your life as a result of living and proclaiming the message of Jesus. When you are proclaiming the message of Jesus, then your life is subject to the scrutiny of others--both believers and unbelievers--and so the faithfulness that comes through being established in God's Word is a necessary prerequisite to its proclamation. The second point is that God's Word is not subject to debate, negotiation, or rejection. Although people doubt it, argue about it, or refuse to believe it does not lessen or diminish the truth and authority of God's Word. Things will happen just as God has said! So the second point amplifies the first. Because God's Word is sovereign truth, our first action in proclaiming it must be to embrace it for ourselves.