I love Ezekiel 36... for I am reminded my condition as a sinner... and how God has redeemed me and given me a new heart and life in Him!
"And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." (Ezekiel 36:23-28)
Again I have to turn to the words of Inspiration as I read this chapter. What encouragement we see here... as we recognize our sin... He saves us!
"In the whole Satanic force there is not power to overcome one soul who in simple trust casts himself on Christ. “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.”
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Lord says, “Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God.” “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.” 1 John 1:9; Jeremiah 3:13; Ezekiel 36:25.
But we must have a knowledge of ourselves, a knowledge that will result in contrition, before we can find pardon and peace. The Pharisee felt no conviction of sin. The Holy Spirit could not work with him. His soul was encased in a self-righteous armor which the arrows of God, barbed and true-aimed by angel hands, failed to penetrate. It is only he who knows himself to be a sinner that Christ can save." (Christ Object Lessons, p. 157-158)Do we see ourselves as we truly are! Do we recognize our sin and filthiness? Do we recognize our desperate need of the blood of Christ?
Tomorrow's Reading: Ezekiel 38-39 and 2 Peter 3
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