Let God’s words sink deep
The Lord added, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not.” Ezekiel 3:10-11
This is a crucial point for every Christian teacher and minister to hear. Before you dare to tell other people about God, you need to make sure that you have first received the message for yourself. This was precisely where the Pharisees and Sadducees fell down. On the surface, they appeared to be impressive adverts for the Jewish faith. There is no question that they were deeply committed to their religion, and were meticulous in the way that they followed the requirements of the law. But they missed the point.
On one occasion, the Sadducees posed a legal puzzle to Jesus. They believed in the resurrection, but they wanted to know who a woman would be married to in the afterlife if all seven of her husbands died. It was a crazy question and Jesus didn’t even attempt to answer it. Jesus said: “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). The Sadducees were very bright people who knew a great deal about their faith, but the legal games they were playing revealed they really hadn’t grasped what it was all about. They certainly hadn’t applied the teaching to their own lives.
Whether we are teaching toddlers, children, teenagers or adults, it is vital that we reflect deeply on what the Bible’s teaching means for us, before we share it with others. Our teaching will only be credible if it is clear that we have worked through its implications in our own lives. Teaching in this way doesn’t guarantee a good reception but, as Ezekiel was told, it is the right way to speak about God – whether people listen or not.
QUESTION
How could you go about letting God’s words sink deep into your life?
PRAYER
Loving God, I pray for all Christian teachers and ministers. Help them to apply your teaching to their own hearts before they share it with others. Amen