EZEKIEL TEACHES PERSONAL RESPONIBILITY
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
PEZEKIEL 33 7-16
Key Verse
“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them a warning from Me”.
Ezekiel 33:7
INTRODUCTION
Do you like to be told that what you have done has caused harm to you and those around you, and so you are responsible for the damage and you are to be blamed?
I am sure you have been in this situation at some point and you do not like to be blamed. When you feel like that you are suffering from the common human disease which is called a long name “not willing to accept personal responsibility”.
This is not a good disease and it can harm you. It harmed the people of Judah for their failure to accept personal responsibility for the sins against God that they were committing. Those actions meant their enemy was about to capture them and put them into slavery. What was also bad was that their beloved city Jerusalem and their beloved Temple would be destroyed. The prophet Ezekiel had been sent by God to warn them to turn to Him and forsake their sinful ways but they did not listen. Disaster was certain.
The King, the princes, the rulers, the priests, the false prophets who claimed without any authority that God had sent them had misled the people. But the sad fact was that the people willingly went along with breaking the commandments of God. So all would suffer because they were not willing to take personal responsibility for their sinning ways and turn to God and follow Him. Turning to God meant that they would live and thrive, enjoying a good life.
We must learn this Lesson taught by the prophet Ezekiel. We must learn that we have to take personal responsibility for what we are doing. We cannot simply disobey the laws of God and expect nothing bad will happen. Our job is to tell people about the love of God and make them understand God cares for them, and He does not want them to suffer. So do not fear. God is with you.
The Holy Spirit is with us and He will help us do this difficult job and be successful in doing it. So let us avoid doing things to harm ourselves and to harm others around us. Remember God is with us and He loves and cares for us, and for all the people He created.