Turn Yourselves
Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 18:30–32
“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin,” Ezekiel 18:30.
Turn Yourselves
Father God, we thank you for your name is blessed in our lives. The Word of the Lord comes in the name of the Lord. I pray that this Word of God will work in our lives and bear fruit in the name of Jesus.
In Ezekiel 18:30 the Lord tells us He will judge each one of us according to our ways, but if we repent, our iniquities will not ruin us. The Lord further explains, “Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed: and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye,” Ezekiel 18:31–32.
God is calling us to repent and to turn ourselves from all our transgressions so iniquity will not be our ruin. Sin is disobedience to God and iniquity is persistent and consistent sin. God is calling us to examine our lives for the things that amount to iniquity that would cause us ruin. He is calling us to cast away our transgressions and to ask for the grace for a new heart and a new spirit so that we should not die as children of God. God has no pleasure in our death, therefore we are called today to turn ourselves and live.
In order to turn, we first need to examine our lives, our environment, and our situations. The environment you live in influences your position in life. Many of us have become comfortable with the wrong company and environment and it has put a hold on progress in our lives. If you are an eagle and you hang out with chickens, you will eat food meant for chickens, behave like chickens, and only fly as high as the chickens. I pray that every eagle that is hovering around the farm with the chickens will examine himself today, flap his wings, and find out those wings are strong enough to carry him much higher.
If you are a lion who has grown comfortable on a farm where you eat food meant for barnyard animals, I want you to leave the farm. Leave that environment that is constraining. There is a story about a lion that was attacked by farmers because he was disturbing them, and in the lion’s haste to get away he left his cub behind. The farmers captured this cub and took it back to the farm where it ate and played with the sheep and goats. It looked different but that did not matter because the animals had the same master and were treated alike. They all ran when they saw lions coming to attack. One day the young lion was drinking water at the stream and saw his reflection.
He ran quickly to the farm telling every animal, “Run! The lion is around! The lion is around!” The lion that was around was himself. Another day he went back to the stream and saw his reflection and turned to see an older lion roaring. He knew his only hope was to roar back and he did not know that he had a roar in him. All he had been taught was to bleat, but that day he roared and the roaring match caused his roar to increase.
Are you hanging around people who bring you down or are you spending time with people who challenge you to better yourself? Are you a Christian who is comfortable with unbelievers? Are your best friends unbelievers? The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:14, “be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” What fellowship does darkness have with light?
That lion was living with sheep and goats and did not know he had a roar in him until another lion confronted him and that roar came out. After the exchange of roars, the farmer watched to see what would happen. The bigger lion roared and the younger lion roared one more time as if to say goodbye to the farm, to his comfort zone, and to the farmer before going into the jungle with the lions.
It is time for you to roar a goodbye to mediocrity, to that comfort zone, to allow yourself to be who you came here to be. It is time for you to change your environment so that you can produce and perform better. We are on a journey. We have no permanent address except in heaven. Determine if the people around you bring you down or build you up. The only way you can make a right determination, the only way you can discern right is if Jesus is in your life. Look to Him and He will speak to you and tell you that you are better than this.
Prayer Points:
A fish is meant for water; it will not prosper in a forest. The lion is meant for the jungle; it will not prosper in a barnyard. You are meant to have dominion on planet earth, so stop moving around in mediocrity. Arise and shine for your light has come. If you do not have Jesus in your life, pray with me now, “Lord Jesus, I accept you as my personal Lord and Saviour. Give me the grace to be in my right environment in Jesus’s name.” Accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour and turn and be the best you can be for Him. Amen.
