Day 260 - An Encrusted Pot

Daily Reading:  Ezekiel 22-24

For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Woe to the city of bloodshed,to the pot now encrusted,whose deposit will not go away!Empty it piece by piecewithout casting lots for them.
For the blood she shed is in her midst:She poured it on the bare rock:she did not pour it on the ground,where the dust would cover it.To stir up wrath and take revengeI put her blood on the bare rock,so that it would not be covered.
Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:Woe to the city of bloodshed!I, too, will pile the wood high.So heap on the woodand kindle the fire.Cook the meat well,mixing in the spices;and let the bones be charred.
Then set the empty pot on the coalstill it becomes hot and its copper glowsso its impurities may be meltedand its deposit burned away.It has frustrated all efforts;its heavy deposit has not been removed,not even by fire.
Now your impurity is lewdness.  Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.
Ezekiel 24:6-13

Footnote:  The city of Jerusalem was like a pot so encrusted with sin that it would not come clean.  God wanted to cleanse the lives of those who lived in Jerusalem and he wants to cleanse our lives today.  Sometimes he tries to purify us through difficulties and troublesome circumstances.  When you face tough times, allow the sin to be burned from your life.  Look at your problems as an opportunity for your faith to grow.  When these times come, unnecessary priorities and diversions are purged away.  We can reexamine our lives so that we will do what really counts.

The word of the Lord came to me:  "Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes.  Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears.  Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead.  Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover the lower part of your face or eat the customary food of mourners."

So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died.  The next morning I did as I had been commanded.  24:15-18

Footnote:  God told Ezekiel that his wife would die and that he should not grieve for her.  Ezekiel obeyed God fully, even as Hosea did when he was told to marry an unfaithful woman (Hosea 1:2,3).  In both cases, these unusual events were intended as symbolic acts to picture God's relationship with his people.  Obeying God can carry a high cost.  Ezekiel always obeyed God wholeheartedly.  We should be wholehearted in our obedience.  We can begin by doing all that God commands us to do, even when we don't feel like it.  Are you willing to serve God as completely as Ezekiel did?

 Keep reading -- 106 days left!

All footnotes taken from the Life Application Study Bible, NIV