I’d like to read a few verses out of the book of Ezekiel chapter 33 from the Living Bible. God says to Jeremiah, “My people come as though they are sincere and sit before you listening, but they have no intention of doing what I tell them. They talk very sweetly about loving the Lord, but with their hearts they are loving their money. You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings lovely songs with a beautiful voice or plays well on an instrument. They hear what you say but don’t pay any attention to it.”
This is a tragic picture of people coming to the Temple, or in a contemporary setting, going to church. In that context those who are servants of God need to be reminded, as God was reminding Jeremiah, to be faithful in spite of the circumstance. Don’t let the people’s attitude dissuade you from being faithful to God.
Then when all these terrible things happen to them, the things you’ve warned them about, the things you’ve said from God’s very heart to them, they will know that a prophet has been among them. Don’t let that go to your head if you are a servant of God.
So that you get the idea that God isn’t just focusing on the one who comes to the Temple to listen; the very next chapter talks about the shepherds who are not representing God faithfully.
How can you apply the reading of God’s Word to your life? Why do you go to church? Are you really wanting to hear from God? Are you determined to obey what you hear? That’s the attitude all of us should have when we go to church. I trust that’s your attitude.
