If you're not a Christian, you may wonder why I keep writing blog posts. "Why bother? I don't want to hear any of that nonsense. Nobody else does, either." If you are a Christian, you may think "it's a waste of time, because no one will listen". So why do I keep writing blog posts when most people ignore them? The answer can be found in Ezekiel 3:4-7 and 3:16-21. In verses 4-7, God gives these instructions to Ezekiel:
4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.
Ezekiel is told to speak God's words to the Israelites in captivity, but God tells him up front they won't listen to him. God says that people who spoke a foreign language would listen to his words but the Israelites won’t because their hearts are so stubborn. Why won't they listen? It has nothing to do with Ezekiel; he's only the messenger. They will reject him because they have rejected God. So if you don't like my blog or you think it's a waste of time, I realize it has nothing to do with me. God requires all Christians to deliver a message, and that's what I'm doing. Whether you accept it or reject it is up to you. Why is it so important? The answer lies in verses 16-21:
16 And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20 Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”
So why is it so important for me to deliver this message to you? Not just for your benefit, but also for mine. If I warn you and you heed my warning, then your soul is saved and I have done my job. If you ignore my warning, that's on you, not me. But if I don't warn you, God will hold me accountable for my inaction. So I'm gonna keep writing because God expects me to deliver his message. The rest is up to you.
