Ministry Resources

OT Fire Starters – Day 320: Ezekiel 16

READ: Ezekiel 16

THINK: Think about your devotion to God and your desire to follow His plans for your life. No doubt, you still struggle at times, but can you imagine rejecting God and abandoning His plans for your life? This could happen much easier than you think if you stop depending on God and start relying on other things for satisfaction and security. If you lose your hunger for God’s presence and stop pursuing His purposes, you could end up like the people in this passage, who not only forgot what God had done for them, but totally rejected His ways. They compromised with worldly standards and tolerated ungodly behavior to the point where they didn’t even realize they had lost their relationship with God and forfeited the power of His Holy Spirit.

RESPOND: How does this chapter portray Jerusalem in relation to God? (See 16:1-63 note.) How did God show favor to the city, and how did He bring it to life? (See 16:6 note.) What covenant did God enter with His people? (See 16:8-14 note.) What relationship does verse 8 symbolize? (See 16:8 note.) How and why did God’s people take advantage of His goodness (v. 15)? What did Jerusalem start to trust instead of God (v. 15)? (See 16:15 note.) How did the people “prostitute” themselves? (See 16:15 and 16:17 notes.) In verse 27, what did God do to get the people’s attention? How would God use the nations His people were unfaithful with to punish Jerusalem (vv. 37-41)? (See 16:37-42 note.) Why and how can people lose their love and loyalty to God? (See 16:43 note.) What were some of the sins that led to Sodom’s destruction (vv. -50)? Though Israel and Judah forgot God and were suffering judgment, what would God remember and what would He do for His people (v. 60)? (See 16:60 note.) How and on what basis would God establish a new covenant with people? (See 16:60 note.)

PRAY: Give thanks for how God saved you and gave you a new life spiritually. Pray that you’ll never take His love for granted or look to other things for strength, satisfaction and security.

ACT: Is your dependence on God diminishing? Are you taking His goodness for granted? Are you hungry for God’s presence and passionately pursuing His purposes now more than ever? If your devotion to God is slipping, ask Him to expose the reason and show you what to do to revive and refresh your spirit. Then obey without delay.

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