Fact-Finding and Sharing

Daily Reading: Ezekiel 40

And the man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel." (Ezekiel 40.4)

Devotional Thought: Several weeks ago, my friend Matt and I met in Summersville, WV on a fact-finding trip for an upcoming mission trip to Appalachia Reach Out of West Virginia (AROWV).  Our mission is to provide much-needed repairs and restoration to homes and ministries in that economically challenged area.  Matt and I went early to learn about specific projects for a joint "Work and Witness" team from Ohio and South Carolina.  Our fact-finding has now become fact-sharing as we must get this information to our team.

Ezekiel went on a fact-finding trip as well: "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city in visions of God."  On that trip, God showed him a physical temple that had symbolic meaning for a spiritual temple. 

What catches my attention in chapter 40, however, is not so much the temple itself, but rather how Ezekiel's mission changed from fact-finding to fact-sharing.  We can learn from what God said to Ezekiel...

·       Look with your eyes.  Are we paying attention to what is happening around us?

·       Hear with your ears.  Are we making the effort to see our world through what we "hear" from the Bible?  Can we hear the pain of the lost and the heart of God to save them?

·       Set your heart upon all that I shall show you.  God said, "That's why I brought you here!"  We have a message to share with others, and so we must resist the temptation to always make "the Church" about us.

·       Declare all that you see.  Some of what God's Word says is pleasant, but other parts are hard.  We need to be willing to speak the truth in love, the whole counsel of God.

Have you moved from fact-finding to fact-sharing?

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to look around and see the needs of those around me, to hear the hope of the gospel - a hope meant for everyone! - and to testify to your great love.  In Jesus name, amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 57.1-5

1  Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.

2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

3 He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

4 My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts—the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!