God Desires You To Live

As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Ezekiel 33:11

Ezekiel brings to the matchless love and compassion that God has for His creation to the forefront of our minds today… The God you serve is happy that you serve Him, but He desires for all to come to accept Him and be saved… This is why God spoke to Ezekiel in the third chapter of his prophetic book and commanded him to “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel…” No matter how much you resist, no matter how much you reject, no matter how much you refuse; God still loves you and desires to develop a (n) intimate relationship with you… Anything you can think of, the children of God were doing during the time of Ezekiel; however, God wants them to know through his prophet that “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked…” Even though you deserve death, God finds no pleasure in losing your soul…  The love of God is evident in the fact that He sent His only begotten son to die for us; the love of God is evident as well in today’s passage taken from Ezekiel which teaches us that not matter how messed up you are, God desires that you turn unto Him and not suffer the Eternal Damnation that awaits you… 

When people wronged me growing up there was no way on earth that I would wish well on them, but we learn today that God has always desired the best for us even when we have been the worse we could be to Him… Ezekiel writes this letter to the children of God at a time when they have turned there backs on the Lord… They have found themselves in bondage under the authority of Babylon and even then, have not turned to the Lord… The book of Ezekiel starts off with God preparing the prophet by telling him to (eat the scroll) and then informing him to go to a rebellious people… The focus scripture today reminds us that even though we make mistakes and must suffer the consequences of our actions, God still loves us and wants us to live within His will… Consider all the things that God had already done for the Israelites; leading them out of Egypt, feeding them manna in the wilderness, protecting them in the land of Canaan, but they continue to rebel against him… God could have simply turned away, neglected them and said, “I tried”, but instead He sends Ezekiel to remind them of His desires… Place yourself in place of the Israelites, how many times has God delivered you, supplied all your needs and loved you unconditionally, but yet you still find yourself turning away from Him and seeking your own agenda… If God took pleasure in seeing people suffer He would not have sent His son; likewise, He would not have spoke through Ezekiel today to remind us of His love and compassion… Ezekiel makes it clear to us today of the desires that God has for all mankind… 

The start of this verse says, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked…” God lives forever and desires for you to live with Him… God it telling us that the life He experiences is not the life that we think we are living while on this earth, there is a better tomorrow if you only would turn today… This verse refers to spiritual prosperity of being able to look beyond the realm of material things, this is what we (like the Israelites) had lost and become blinded by… The book of Jeremiah informs us the will of God and confirms what Ezekiel has written today to the house of Israel… “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Every person that chooses the path of wickedness is cut off from the Lord, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t have a sincere love for that individual… Think about a mother or father that sees their son or daughter go down the wrong path of life… Even though you must accept their choice, it doesn’t mean that the pain is any less to bear… God wants to see us excel, He wants to see us conquer and overcome and even in the lowest of states He continues to pour out His love as we see here in Ezekiel… Today, God speaking through Ezekiel is letting us know that He desires for us to enjoy prosperity for all eternity… God’s life has no end (As I live…)and the compassion of the Lord is manifest in this scripture because He longs for your life to have no end as well… The verse ends by asking, “For why will ye die…” What on this earth is worth dying for? Why would you choose to perish, why would you give up all the precious promises God has for you, what’s worth your soul? If only you would turn from your wickedness, then you would realize how much God has in store…

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!