R³ Devotional - Day 241

Pete Rose, former baseball player, once said in an interview: “If someone is gracious enough to  give me a second chance, I won’t need a third.” What a great quote to relate to our passage for today.

God is addressing the people of Israel through Ezequiel and is basically saying, I will give you a second chance. The Israelites, in exile because of their sin and walking far away from God, are now being offered a “second chance”.
 
Verse 16 says, “I have been a sanctuary for them.” The sanctuary was their holy place in  Jerusalem, their safe place, a place of protection. Now in times of distress, this is how we usually react: we come and seek God as we need that protection, his strength, his wisdom,  and guidance, but what happened when everything was good? Did we have that same devotion for the Lord?

Thankfully, we have a merciful and loving God who, if we look for him, will always be there with open arms to receive us. Verse 19 says he will give a new heart, a new spirit, remove the heart of stone, and that they shall be their people. That is how God receives us if we surrender to him. He will give us a new heart, a new spirit, a new life in Christ.
 
God wants to restore us, to make a new creature out of us, take out all of the detestable things and abominations in our lives (vs 18), and give his spirit in our lives to live freely for him. But we have to be willing, since as he says in verse 21, there will be some who will still rather go after these abominations, and they will receive their judgment.

Real: Life Principles

• We have a forgiving God who is always willing to receive us with open arms to love us and restore us from our sins. 

• Above, I wrote “second chance”. This is because it is usually not just a second chance for us; we have probably failed more than two times by now. But let us be assured that he is always there for us if we truly repent and let him work in our lives. He is our refuge.

Relevant: Life Applications
  

• God is forgiving and loving, but he also wants to transform our lives, and sometimes that may come with reproof and rebuke in our lives. 

• Our life should be a constant life of worship. Worship in obedience, in a life of sanctity,  knowing that we are not perfect, and we may stumble, but he will be there to give us a hand to come back up. 

Ready: Life Action Steps  

• If there is a sin in your life, if there is something that has been pulling you away from God, it’s time to repent. Come to the lord, surrender, and He will give you a new heart and spirit. 

• Live a life of obedience and sanctification. If in doubt, ask yourself, will this thing that I’m doing glorify God? Will he be honored? Will it make his name known?