OUR DAILY BREAD : DELAYED CONSEQUENCES

[cimi]

January 26
Tuesday


DELAYED
CONSEQUENCES

READ:
Ezekiel 12:21-28
_________________________________________________________

Return to the LORD
your God, for He is
gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of
great kindness; and
He relents from doing
harm. __Joel 2:13
_________________________________________________________

As a child, I learned to behave properly when adults rewarded my good behavior and punished my bad behavior. This worked pretty well because the reward or punishment generally generally came quickly after the behavior, making the relationship between the cause and effect unmistakable. When I became an adult, however, life got more complex, and the consequences of my actions were not always immediate. When I behaved badly without getting in trouble for it, I began to think that it didn't matter to God what I did.

Something similar happened to the children of Israel. When they disobeyed God and didn't suffer any bad consequences right away, they said, "The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!" (Ezek. 9:9), indicating their belief that God had lost interest in them and didn't care about their bad behavior. But they were wrong. Weary of their waywardness, God finally said, "None of My words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled" (12:28 NIV).

When God delays discipline, it's not due to indifference; it's due to His very nature--He is gracious and slow to anger. Some see that as permission to sin, but God intends it to be an invitation to repent (Rom. 2:4). __ Julie Ackerman link
_____________________________________________________________

```````A PRAYER: Lord, thank You for being slow to anger and````````
````````filled with compassion. May I not presume upon Your`````````
````````mercy by assuming that there will be no consequences````````
````````````to my sin. Help me instead to confess it. Amen.`````````
_____________________________________________________________

The only way to make things right
is to admit you've been wrong.

***********Today's Bible Reading __ Ezekiel 12:21-28**************

21 And the word of the
LORD came to me, saying,

22 "Son of man, what is this
proverb that you people
have about the land of
Israel, which says, 'The
days are prolonged, and
every vision fails'? 23 Tell
them therefore, 'Thus says
the Lord GOD: "I will lay
this proverb to rest, and
they shall no more use it as
a proverb in Israel." But say
to them, "The days are at
hand, and the fulfillment of
every vision. 24 For no more
shall there be any false
vision or flattering
divination within the house
of Israel. 25 For I am the
LORD. I speak, and the
word which I speak will
come to pass; it will no
more be postponed; for in
your days, O rebellious
house, I will say the word
and perform it," says the
Lord GOD.'"

26 Again the word of the
LORD came to me, saying,

27 "Son of man, look, the
house of Israel is saying,
'The vision that he sees is
for many days from now,
and he prophesies of times
far off.' 28 Therefore say to
them, 'Thus says the Lord
GOD: "None of My words
will be postponed any
more, but the word which I
speak will be done." says
the Lord God.'"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

False prophets had told the unrepentant nation of Israel that
God's judgment would either not happen at all (v.22) or would be
delayed for a long time (v.27). Ezekiel rebutted this false belief and
reaffirmed that God would certainly carry out what He had said
(v.28). Some 700 years later, Peter warned of the same disbelieving
attitude regarding the certainty and imminency of the second
coming of Christ (2 Peter 3:3-10). __SIM KAY TEE