ESOCS Devotional 11 June 2024 – Our Response to God’s Work
MEMORY VERSE: ““And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20
TEXT: EZEKIEL 11:14-20
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” ’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’ 18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. 19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
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God told Prophet Ezekiel what He would do to the house of Israel and why He intended to do so. What He wanted to do was His work on His people and why He intended to do so was their expected response. The Divine work is on man and for man, while the response is from man. Therefore, for man to function in optimum good capacity, there has to be a corporation between the divine and humanity.
From our memory verses, God said He would give the humans in Israel one heart, a new spirit, take away their stony hearts and give them the heart of flesh. God did this in order to make His children what He wanted them to be and how He wanted them to function. That is to be people of righteousness through willing obedience. Having carried out His divine part, the other part is left for His children to undertake. The children having received the work of God in them are expected to walk in His statutes by keeping and doing His ordinances, statutes and laws. This is to create a perfect relationship between God and His people. They will be God’s people indeed, while God will be their God.
Now, God has done His righteous work for us and in us too in the new covenant. First, for us, He gave His Holy Son Jesus to die for us on the Cross so He can pay for our sins and get us saved. Therefore, as many as received Jesus and believed in Him as their Saviour would be saved. Thereafter, God will remove the heart of stone from them and give them a new spirit man and heart. The scriptures says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” This is because of the work God did by giving us new spirit and heart. Our response here is to believe in this work of Salvation of Christ that it changes who we are from sinners to justified ones.
Secondly, in us now, God is working in us to ensure that the new spirit and heart He has put in us are functional. However, that work of His cannot be fully realized if we do not respond accordingly. Philippians 2:12-13 puts it this way: “Therefore, my dearly loved ones, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” So, our response should be that of cooperation with God by expressing what He has already done in us. He has made us new beings in Christ, righteous and holy. We are then to live our lives in, on, within and from these standards.
- How are you responding to what God has already done in you? Are you expressing His holiness through your life?
- Father,, thank you for the great work you are doing in me, in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading: John 14:1-11, Ezekiel 36:22-28, Rom. 9:1-13
ESOCS Devotional 11 June 2024
