“Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself first. Then go to your people in exile and say ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Do this whether they listen to you or not.” (Ezekiel 3:10-11 NLT)
We’ve turned the pages into Ezekiel and we find a prophet being prepared to serve in a foreign land. The first few chapters describe the commissioning of Ezekiel. It was through an extraordinary vision of God’s power and majesty; a golden chariot with legs and faces and wheels that the prophet was assured that God’s might was not diminished by distance from the Promised Land. God holds supreme sovereignty over every king and every nation, even over the exiles in Babylon.
He has a message to move through Ezekiel and He warned that the displaced people might not be ready to receive it. No matter what, Ezekiel was instructed to let God’s word sink into his own heart first and foremost.
What a command and commission for every Christian leader! Let the word soak into our own hearts first and foremost. God has a message to speak through us, but it begins in us. The word must penetrate the four chambers of our own heart before we can effectively express it to the world around us.
I’ve heard it said that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I believe this is true, but maybe even moreso, people don’t care how much you know until they can see evidence of that knowledge taking root in your own life.
We are transformed by God’s word and if we aren’t, our message isn’t the least bit believable. This is a God-designed safety mechanism. What if we could save the whole with the message of Christ but turn a deaf ear to the gospel ourselves? No, instead God asks that we begin by listening for our own benefit, letting the word sink in deep, piercing our hearts, exposing our motives and correcting our attitudes and thus our actions. Only then are we fit to serve in leadership capacity: when we’ve been transformed by the truth.
“God means what He says. What He says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it – no matter what.” (Hebrews 4:12-13 MSG)
Lord, thank You for allowing us opportunity to serve. We are grateful for full access to Your word. May it change us first. Transform our hearts and thus transform our lives. We want to live and love as You do. May our message come from the fullness of our own experience with You. Amen.