Daily Devotionals

September 28, 2020

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.

 

Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.

 

Ezekiel 3:17-21

As a child, I always imagined the role of a prophet to be like a fortune teller who saw visions of the future in his dreams or in a crystal ball. He would then give that information to the people around him in order to try to prevent some great disaster. It really was not until I was in seminary I began to understand that the role of a prophet was vastly different. God’s first concern is not for something that could happen hundreds or thousands of years in the future but on helping us where we are in this time and at this moment. The job of the prophet has always been to guide the people of God along the proper path.

 

In this strange time of Covid-19, I spend part of my day listening for the voice of God and seeking to understand just where it is that the Almighty wishes for us to be today, not in a hundred years. Peachtree has sought to do the work of the Lord by providing food to those in need during the pandemic. We also are actively focusing on engaging people into life-giving communities where we might all grow in a deeper relationship with both God and each other as we seek to worship and glorify our Savior and King. As we pursue these endeavors, we are called to listen for God’s voice in each of our lives.

 

Some of us are more comfortable talking to our Creator than listening to Him.  However, it is when we pause in our day that we can become like the prophet Ezekiel and stand as a watchman for the Children of God, helping to lead each other to where God calls us.

For Reflection


How might you listen to God most clearly?


Where have you felt God calling you to act right now?

Prayer


Merciful Father, You care for us just as we are today. You do not wait with impatience for us to become the people You want us to be in the future. Open the ears of our hearts that we might understand the work to which You call us so that we can serve You with gladness and singleness of heart. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

Rev. Scott Tucker
Pastor for Grand Adults
404-842-3172