Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’” – Ezekiel 33:10
Ezekiel was God’s Watchman. He was appointed by God over the house of Israel to watch over them and warn them.
There’s something very interesting about this passage. Israel had correctly come to the conclusion that sin had been their downfall. They also acknowledged that the reason that they were wasting away was precisely because of their sin. And yet, they didn’t seem to grasp that the simple solution was to stop sinning!
Living under the heavy weight of the consequences of their sin, they ask God, “How then can we live?”
God’s answer comes through Ezekiel. His response is direct and to the point.
Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ -Ezekiel 33:11
This sounds a lot like the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthian Church!
Come to your senses and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame. -1 Corinthians 15:34
It’s a scary kind of delusion that we’re living in if we’re knowingly engaged in sin and yet at the same time expect to feel good. These people should not have needed Ezekiel to tell them to repent! They already understood that their sin was the reason that they were “wasting away”. It should be obvious that what you do in that situation is immediately stop doing the thing that got you in trouble in the first place!
To be fair though, I can kind of understand this passage. Sometimes we can dig a hole so deep for ourselves that we don’t see a way out. Desperation sets in and maybe we wonder if God will just take His hands off of us and walk away. Maybe we think that even if we repent our situation is so desperate that even that will not get us back to where we need to be.
What can you add to the fact that our sins cause us to waste away mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually?
Sin often holds us so tightly that we feel that we can never get out of its grip. That’s especially the case if we willfully, rebelliously, do things that we know God hates. It’s totally right to call out to God in that moment. I think doing anything other than that would be sheer futility. It’s very easy for us to get ourselves entangled in sin, but the truth is, only God can get us out of the mess we’ve made. I can guarantee you that part of that process will involve God telling you to repent and return to Him with all your heart.
Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. -Revelation 2:5