Paul told Timothy to "Preach the Word" (2 Tim 4:2). The world does not need to hear our thoughts but God's message of love and redemption and the result of sin. Similarly, and more drastically, God told Ezekiel to preach His words only when He gave him the words. In Ezekiel 3:16-27, God puts Ezekiel in the position as the watchman over Israel. Duguid likens the watchman to the Air Raid Warden in WWII when his responsibility was to sound the siren when bombers were approaching. Ezekiel was to warn Israel of God's vengeance for their sin if they did not turn back.
It is interesting that God names the wicked and the righteous as the 2 groups Ezekiel was to preach to, yet they have the same fate regardless of their status. If they repent, they live. If they don't, they die. but the greater responsibility was on Ezekiel. He was required to speak the Word of the Lord when it was given to him. If he did not and people died in their sin, he was accountable. Not to their sin, but accountable to NOT speaking when commanded. Ezekiel could not save them, could not make a decision for them, but only laid out the way for them to repent of their sins and turn to God.
As preachers of the Word, do we take this serious enough? I, admittedly, have not preached a lot. About 20 times, yet I am still humbled by this. When I do preach, am I taking this serious enough? I believe in a time of invitation and decision-making at the end of the service. If the whole service, music and prayer included, does not make people think about their life, then have I failed?
Any thoughts?
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