Readings for Pentecost 5

Ezekiel 2:1-5

2 Corinthians 12: 1-10

Mark 6: 1-13

Passage for Meditation:  Ezekiel 2:4-5  The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says.'  ⁵ And whether they listen or fail to listen-- for they are a rebellious house-- they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Devotion: Have you ever had to talk with someone you would term “obstinate and stubborn”?  Someone who has it in their thick head that they know best?  Someone who will say and do the opposite of whatever you say or do?

All too often the person who is stubborn and obstinate is me.

The verse above is a word of condemnation against the stubborn, obstinate hearts of the people of Israel in Ezekiel’s time.  But it is also a demonstration of God’s grace.  Knowing the people’s hearts, God still sent a prophet to speak to them. 

God knows our hearts and still sends His Word to us- the word of the Law that reveals and  condemns our sinful, stubborn hearts.  But then also the Word of Gospel that is the message of God’s grace through Jesus death and resurrection!

May God’s Word continue to be active in our hearts and minds!