OCTOBER 23, 2024
Topic: “INSPIRED BY LOVE”
Text: EZEKIEL 16:1-14
Memory Verse: “Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, as you lay there in your blood, I said to you, “Live” – Eze. 16:16.
Through the prophecy of Ezekiel, God reminded Jerusalem of her despised status among the Canaanite nations. Using the imagery of a young baby growing to mature womanhood, God reminded Jerusalem that He raised her from a lowly and helpless state to great glory, and married her as His bride. He cared for, loved her with a compassionate love, drew her closer to Himself, and gave her His identity by entering into a covenant of love with her.
Everyone around her, trampled upon Jerusalem like a baby nobody wanted, like one left outside to die in the blood of her birth – what we would call in modern day terms, a partial abortion. God who is rich in mercy and always abounding in love did not pass by or ignore this abandoned people. He took them, gave them life, cleansed them, made them grow, and adorned them with His glory and splendor, until they had become the attraction of all. In other words, whatever Jerusalem became was a result of the loving intervention of God.
In the New Testament, Peter would say, “once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God, once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” – I Peter 2:10. Paul puts it this way, “consider brothers and sisters, what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth” – 1 Cor. 1:26. To the Ephesians, he said, “but because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved” – Eph. 2:4-6.
Beloved, it is a good thing for you to be reminded of your former status so that you do not get carried away by what God has made of you now and begin to think too highly of yourself. You are what you are only because God was inspired by His love to pick you up and save you. Appreciate God’s work in your life and seek to align with His purpose every day.
PRAYER: Pray with a sincere heart in gratitude to God and ask Him to help you maximize His purpose.