The best among us are those who are listening to the Lord and following His lead. Why follow any man who has no connection to his Creator? Who is pursuing his own desires and agenda? Who has negligible understanding of the eternal purpose? What could be gained by paying attention to a man who lives only for himself?
Jesus would later remind us that the end product of a merely humanistic man is nothing more than “wood, hay, and stubble.” It does not last and has no value. No one should desire those results personally, and no one should follow someone whose end has no eternal substance.
HOW SHOULD WE LIVE?
The prophet Ezekiel gives us the pathway to a fruitful life as he describes the vision he had been given … a vision that brought hope, life, and direction to the people he served.
“In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was taken, on that same day the hand of the Lord was upon me and He brought me there. In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, and on it to the south, there was a structure like a city. So He brought me there.” (Ezekiel 40:1-3)
This experience may have been mystical in its substance but not in its timing. Ezekiel names the year, the month, and even the day when this occurred. On this common day of his life, something happened. “The hand of the Lord was upon” Ezekiel, and God led him. He helped him see something that was to come so he could share it with others. Three times Ezekiel describes the genesis of this moment with the words, “He brought me there.”
God brought him. Culture didn’t take him in this direction, nor his own ingenuity. The latest fad didn’t sway him, nor did the silliest god direct him. It was not blind fate but a real Being that was leading.
Ezekiel was in a position to hear the God of the Universe (the One-Who-Knows-All) and have the opportunity to follow him, and that is precisely what happened. Ezekiel saw things and was prepared to help others by that which had God alone for its initiation. This was a vision from God. And Ezekiel heard God and followed.
YOUR LISTENING AND YOUR FOLLOWING
Evaluate last week. Who did you listen to? What voice did you follow? To what instructions did you pay attention? If it was not God’s Word and His Spirit’s prompting, then it was not at all what He intended for you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made with a Divine capacity to know and hear God, which is only activated through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Anything less is beneath your calling and purpose.
If you are not putting yourself in the daily position to be led by God, you will lead a wasted life. And the greatest tragedy is, others may follow.
Oh, Father, deliver me from a misspent existence. Help me find You. Let me lay aside every other voice and seek You with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Give me direction and give me understanding. And, if someone follows me in this life, let me lead them straight to You, the One who is life indeed.
