Ezekiel

I have been reading in Ezekiel for my devotions. For those of you who haven't read much of the Old Testament, do it. You will love it. I started a while back reading backwards through the OT. (Not the actual verses backwards, just the books.) Anyways, the first 10 chapters of Ezekiel are all about Israel worshipping idols and God punishing them. But then you get to chapter 11.


16 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone. 17 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 18 And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.


These verses are an amazing reminder of God's mercy. Israel had done nothing to deserve anything from God, and yet He promised them everything. It got me thinking, what have I done to deserve God's mercy? Nothing, and yet He has given me so much. It is so easy to forget what God has done for me. I mean, I was saved at age 5, so i wasn't saved out of terrible sin. But Christ didn't just save me from sin. He saved me for a relationship with Himself. So often, I take that relationship for granted. I can come directly to the throne of the Creator of the Universe, and I put other things before that. What could be more important?

"Long Have I Pondered"

Long have I pondered the pain of the cross:
Wood soaked in blood, washed with tears, drenched in sweat.
Whips, cruel nails, crown of thorns, countless cost:
Somehow this death is both promise and threat.
Cascades of suffering and love shrink my pride;
Silent, I’m hushed by his spear-riven side.

Long have I pondered the shame of the cross:
Jeered by the troops, by authorities scorned.
Mocked by a brigade, society’s dross.
Christ is abandoned, rejected, ignored.
How can I focus on triumphs and fears,
Here lies my Maker, Redeemer, and King.

Long have I pondered the curse of the cross:
Sinless, the Christ bears my guilt and my pain.
Thundering silence, a measureless cost,
God in His heaven lets Christ cry in vain.
Now I can glimpse sin’s bleak horror, and worse:
Christ dies and bears the unbearable curse.

Long have I pondered the Christ of the cross:
Gone is the boasting when I’m next to Him.
Loving the rebel, redeeming the lost,
Jesus’ pure goodness exposes my sin.
Self is cut down by this triumph of grace:
Christ’s bloody cross is the hope of our race.


This is a song by D. A. Carson. (For those of you who listen to Soundforth, he wrote “To the Praise of His Glorious Grace.”). Every time I listen to it, it convicts me more. I just want to challenge you to think about the words.