You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke.  I the Lord have spoken. (Ezekiel 5:15)

On reading these chapters from Ezekiel, a person might be tempted to believe that God is a god of retribution – one who is seeking to smite those who offend Him.  This is not actually the case.  God is actually a god of grace who longs to bring people into a relationship with Him – it just so happens that the Israelites, time and time again, rejected God.  In an effort to bring them back to Himself, God pushed them away and allowed them to face the consequences of their choices.

God’s desire for the Israelites isn’t any different than His ultimate goal for each of us: He wants us to be in a relationship with Him.  He knows that the best thing for us is that we might submit ourselves to Him.  That’s why He sent Jesus to die for us – so that, in spite of our sins, we might be called sons and daughters of God.  Have you received Jesus and engaged in a relationship with God?  If you want to know more about what this means, please send me a message, as I’d love to tell you more.

Lord, thank You for loving me so much that You did something about it by sending Jesus.  Let me find great joy in Your presence, and let me submit my life into Your hands – trusting that You know what is best for me.