Ezekiel 18

The last section of Ezekiel 18 contains some very common sense but scriptural truth we need to consider.  God makes it clear that His desire is that people live correctly.  He states it is “my pleasure that they turn around, no longer living wrong but living right–really living”.  God wants us to live right – to really live.  What does that look like?  It means we live “upright” and stop sinning.  It means we align our lives with God’s Word and His will for our lives.  It means we have relationship with Him and put Him on the throne of our lives as Lord.  Of course the people accuse God of not being fair.  Do you hear that from people – that’s not fair?  Do your kids lay that on you all the time?  So often we do the same with God.  God – that’s just not fair.  You can’t really expect that from me.  But God does expect it and He requires us to live according to His law.  Here is the reality we need to keep in mind: “I’ll judge each of you according to the way you live”.  Personal accountability is God’s way of dealing with you and me.  It isn’t going to be what my parents did, or my kids, or my wife.  God will judge me for what I do.  Plain and simple – no passing the buck – it is on my shoulders to live in accordance with His requirements.  Sin drags us down and keeps us from achieving that.  He gives us the solution.  Scripture tells us to “get a new heart….get a new spirit”.  We have to move off our old nature and put on the new.  We need to put Jesus on the throne of our lives so we can walk in harmony with God.  It isn’t rocket science but rather recognizing what lies ahead if we live on our own standards.  God says “why would you choose to die”?  What a question for us to consider.  But if we don’t make a chance, make the right choice, we will do exactly that.  God has given us a solution to our wrong living – and it is Jesus.  We need to make the choice to LIVE.