Now at the end of the seven days the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel; when you hear the word from my mouth, give them warning from me. If I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn-you don’t speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life-that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.
But if you warn a wicked person and he does not turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, he will die for his iniquity; but you will have saved yourself. Ezekiel 3:16-19 HCSB
Farmer’s Insurance Company has a commercial that shows a mascot, which is a fireball, riding in a parade when the trunk of the vehicle catches on fire. The crowd is yelling out, “you’re on fire”. He thinks they are referring to the team’s success and only when someone finally says, “look behind you” does realizes the car he is riding in is on fire. This guy is oblivious. This reminds me of myself when I was living with sin in my life. I was believing the devil’s lies. I was believing that God would overlook this sin because I had a good excuse for it. I was deceived. I thank God for a pastor that preached the truth from the pulpit and made me realize that God does not overlook our sin.
In our scripture passage today, Ezekiel is called by God to go to the Israelites and warn them of the destruction that is coming their way if they don’t turn from their evil ways and repent. God tells Ezekiel here that he has made him a watchman for the people of Israel. A watchman is defined in the dictionary as a person who keeps watch or a guard. We need watchmen. We need someone to warn us when we are stepping into the devil’s trap. We need someone to warn us when our sin is pulling us away from God. But, we also need to be watchmen for others.
Often times when we are in the middle of our sin, just like the commercial, we don’t see it. Others around us see that we are headed for disaster, but we remain clueless. As Christians, when we see our friends and family destroying their lives by their sinful behavior, we need to speak with them about it. But, what if they don’t listen? In many cases, I have found that they don’t listen. They may even respond with anger, but once you have warned them your job is done. If they respond with concern and ask for your help, then of course you want to help them. However, if they respond in anger and tell you to mind your own business, then you have done what God has called you to do. Just as God told Ezekiel, you have saved yourself. Their blood won’t be on your hands at that point.
If you see someone that is headed over the cliff, do what you can to encourage them to turn around. Try to help them get on the right path. If they refuse to listen, then pray for them. Pray for God to send someone else into their path. Pray for Him to turn them around. Move on to the next person. Matthew 9:37 tells us that the harvest if plentiful, but the workers are few. In Matthew 7:6, we are told not to cast our pearls before swine. Do your best to encourage those around you to love the Lord and turn from their sin and repent, but know that in many cases your pleas may fall on deaf ears. When this happens you need to move on.
You may even have God tell you to get away from the person that refuses to turn from their wickedness. In Proverbs 4:4, we are told to not enter the path of the wicked and to not proceed in the way of evil men.
Know this, when we are called to salvation, our work begins. We are all called to do what we can to draw others closer to God. Some will listen and join God’s service and some will not. We are simply called to do the best we can, and to keep on keeping on. Galatians 6:9 encourages us to “not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” So keep up the good work!
Have a great day!