State of our Heart
Imagine having a vision for your own hometown, a place you are intimately familiar with. Unlike an evasive dream, this vision is extremely detailed and focused explicitly on the community’s state of heart. Understanding how the vision appears is much like trying to understand how a seizure occurs; it is sudden and uncontrolled.
Images appear and a voice is heard by an external power with each vision including clear instructions, not for the moment, but for the future. Remarkably enough, this vision did come to a man named Ezekiel. The vision was a warning about his hometown’s troubled existence that was headed for punishment and captivity. It was a warning about future punishment and captivity of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel’s instructions from God were clear. Speak what I tell you. Do what I tell you. Those who would hear, would hear. Those who refused to hear, would not. He told Ezekiel not to worry about if the people of Jerusalem would respond to His message. Their lack of response would not be held against Ezekiel, but his refusal to speak to Jerusalem and the exiles would be.
In typical hard-headed fashion, God’s people refused to listen. They compromised their relationship with God; even weakening it by combining their worship with other deities. If there was ever a way to provoke God’s jealousy, then worshipping other gods would certainly do it. Scripture says, “You must not have any other gods except for Me” —Ex. 20:3.
The people had a false sense of security that everything was okay because they did not receive any immediate consequences for their sins. They believed that their hybrid method of worship would not provoke the anger of God. They would soon find out that God didn’t like sharing His affection with other deities. Each idolatrous practice that co-occupied a place in their hearts would push Him out.
God was angry with them. He saw open defiance against His authority when they placed an idol to the north of the altar gate. Under the cloak of darkness, He saw hidden sin when 70 elders of the house of Israel worshiped crawling things and animals and detestable things that were carved on the wall.
He witnessed their dependency on another deity when he saw women weeping for Tammuz, a Babylonian god, associated with fertility and agriculture. And, if that wasn’t enough, their sins found their way into the temple of God where 25 men turned their backs away from the temple, worshiping the sun. Do you see what they were doing? They walked away from their first love.
What a shameful state-ofheart to be in. But, when I ask myself, what does this say about me, I realized I wasn’t much different. My idols may look different, but they were still idols. Instead of a statue in my front yard, over the years I had erected importance to my time, my job, money, and my activities ahead of God. Ultimately, anything that shares space with worshiping God becomes a stumbling block into His presence.
Oftentimes we try to hide our sins. Other times we openly sin. Amazingly, we even think that God can’t see. We think He is blinded to our behaviors, even deaf to our conversations. But He hears even our groans. He knows it all. And you know what? God isn’t interested in our half-heartedness. He wants our whole heart.
Half-hearted individuals are not exempted from God’s correction. We think that just because we haven’t experienced correction that it won’t happen. Don’t you know that God’s delay becomes our friend. Delay can reveal how much He loves us. Delay is His merciful timeline stretched out between our sin and our repentance, allowing us time to remove the stumbling blocks that divide us.
As He gives us more days and years, He is giving us opportunities to change. What a great God we serve! “Oh, the joy that awaits those that return to the Lord. Is there any other God like You, who forgives evil and passes over the transgressions done by Yours who remain? He does not hold onto His anger forever because He delights in showing love and kindness. He will take pity on us again, will tread our wrongdoing underfoot. He will cast all our sins down to the bottom of the sea.”—Micah 7:18-19.
Finally, to those who have ears to hear. Don’t waste any time! Destroy the idols deep inside your heart. Turn back!
There is no time to waste. God loves you; and is waiting for you to return home. Welcome Back!
Wilder, (formerly of Altheimer, Ark.), is president of Kansas City Teen Summit, blogger at (wordstoinspire105953116.wordpress. com), and author of Netted Together (https://nettedtogether.org.)
Editor’s note: Pastors, ministers or other writers interested in writing for this section may submit articles for consideration to shope@adgnewsroom.com. Writers should have connections to Southeast Arkansas. Please include your name, phone number and the name and location of your church or ministry.