August 21

Today is accountability day... give me a quick email telling me what day you are on. If you have fallen behind just pick up with today’s reading and continue the journey.

A Sad Story

What do you think are the saddest movies ever produced? Brian’s Story, Doctor Zhivago, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, and even Bambi would be on my list. Today we run into one of the saddest stories in the entire Bible. We have seen Ezekiel as the faithful preacher with his wonderful illustrations. He has been a fiery prophet, with his warnings to the nation. But now we read about him as a husband. A man, with a heart break as big as the state of Texas. We get a glimpse of his heart when God uses the words “the delight of your eyes” (24:16). Ezekiel at this time was probably no older than 35 years old, yet he has to suffer the devastating personal loss of the woman he delights in. He is told in advance of the loss, which I am not sure was good or bad. As our notes pointed out, she could have had some pre-existing condition and this was the inevitable end. (Remember concurrence?) But either way he was about to suffer one of the most difficult situations in life, the loss of a spouse. Yet even this situation was to be used by God as a sign for the nation. Ezekiel was told not to express public grief about his loss. One can almost feel the massive restraint in his word of verse 18, “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.” WOW!!! Despite his pain this guys stays faithful to the word of the Lord.

Now what does it all mean to us?

First of all, this teaches us the high cost of following the Lord. Ezekiel followed the Lord even when it was difficult. He didn’t check out of the program just because it had something he didn’t like. We quit following the Lord far too quickly these days.

Secondly, he was showing that his terrible personal sorrow could still be used by God to preach the gospel. His silence was a sign of the coming silence when the whole city of Jerusalem would be defeated by the Babylonians. God can use any one in any situation to preach the gospel. We are also called to preach the gospel in Stamford. How we carry ourselves during times of difficulty, preach the loudest sermons. As Saint Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”