Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 18:1-19:14 (additional reading: Psalm 106:32-48 & Proverbs 27:10)
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel awoke one morning to read his own obituary in the local newspaper: “Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died yesterday, devised a way for more people to be killed in a war than ever before, and he died a very rich man.”
But, actually, it was Alfred’s older brother who had died; a newspaper reporter had made a mistake. But the account had a profound effect on Nobel. So he decided he wanted to be known for something other than developing the means to kill people efficiently and for amassing a fortune in the process. So he initiated the Nobel Prize, the award for scientists and writers who foster peace. Nobel said, “Every man ought to have the chance to correct his eulogy in midstream and write a new one.”
God gives us the chance to do what is right! Ezekiel 18:21-23 says “But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offences he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”
This teaches that if we turn away from our sins, then God will forgive us and He will remember our sins no more. Isn’t that wonderful! God wants us to continue to change our lives. But not only does God want us to change our external characteristics, He wants us to change our hearts because it is the heart that truly matters to Him. Our hearts are to ask God for help by going to him in prayer because God is the one who can truly change our hearts. We must also turn away from sin and confess our sins to Him. Are there any changes that you need to make before you appear before God? Today you have the chance.
Reflection
What would you change given the chance?
Prayer
Father, Thank You for changing us from the inside out. Help us to see those things in our lives we need to change and be responsive to Your prompting. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Jon Dyer Devotions 