S) "6When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!'"
Ezekiel 16:6 (NASB)
O) The LORD gave Ezekiel a lengthy analogy, describing the Israelites as a baby girl, despised at birth, and abandoned in the wilderness. The above verse begins a long description of the Father God raising up this baby girl, all the way to maturity, when she is old enough to marry. Then, He takes her as His wife and adorns her in beauty, feeds her with the finest foods, and loves her lavishly. The woman begins a life of harlotry, and that's the bigger message to the Israelites at this time, but I really chose the above verse, at the beginning, because it emphasizes the grace that God has for us. He takes us from the brink of death, when we were alone and abandoned with no help and no hope. He doesn't simply allow us to live, He doesn't stop when we are healthy again, but He continues to bring us up, until we are ready to be devoted to Him. He doesn't simply require devotion as "payback" because we "owe Him" for saving our lives. No, He continues to bless, continues in His grace, by pouring out gift upon gift, beauty upon beauty, courting us at every turn, inviting our love in every way.
A) Humble thanks should be my main response to this. Obviously, there is an unspoken (at least in this single verse) warning that is to be taken from this, to be devoted to my Lord and not become a harlot. But this morning, I am particularly struck by the gracious nature of my Father God, my Lord and King, my Redeemer.
P) Father God, I am in awe of Your eternal grace. This grace You have for me precedes my knowledge of You. This grace You gave me was from the beginning of who I am, before I even understood that I needed it, that I needed You. I was abandoned to this world at my birth, doomed by the sin that was born with me, within me. There was none to save me, none to love me, none who could restore me, and make me live. I was dying, and I could barely comprehend it. But You took me, held me, made me live. You cleaned me, fed me, clothed me. You gave me purpose, beauty, and everything good. You held back no good gift, even still You bless in grace. I know that I am still prone to death, prone to sins that amount to harlotry. Worse, I am an adulterous wife, since I receive nothing in return as Ezekiel pronounced in vv.32-33. Yet, Your grace continues. Thank You for the forgiveness of my infidelity. Thank You for the blood-purchase made, through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Remind me often, especially during hardships and grief, that Your grace was from the beginning, in the midst of my own doom, and Your grace continues even now. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
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