Monday October 10, 2011

In 1970 when I began to read the bible through in a year, I came across a passage in Ezekiel where God spoke to me that changed the way I communicate with people. God was calling Ezekiel to a ministry and He set up a communicative structure that I think is important to be practiced in all relationships that are important in our lives. It says, “At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. (Ezekiel 3:16-19 NIV)

God was saying to Ezekiel and to me in 1970 that He wanted me to speak the truth when He impressed me with what to say to a person. I have sought to use this in my counseling of others throughout the years. It is similar to to the two passages in Epesians (5:15, 5:25) where Paul says to speak the truth and speak the truth in love. We sometimes don’t want to tell a person the truth because it might hurt their feelings. What God said to Ezekiel is that if He told Ezekiel what to say and he didn’t say it, he would be responsible for the consequences. But if he told the people what God wanted him to say and they didn’t listen to it, they would be responsible for the consequences of not listening or heeding the message.

How different would our relationships be if we were to speak the truth to one another and not put on a facade when just the opposite is true? Maybe today on our journey we can choose to speak the truth to those we come in contact with in love.