Witnessing: A Call to Worship the One True God

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" Ezekiel 33:11

This verse reveals so much of the heart of God.

• We see His love for the sinner
• We see the pain we cause Him
• We see His desire for reconciliation
• We see His holiness
• We see His righteousness
• We feel His yearning for EVERY soul

God was urging Ezekiel to speak to the Israelites. Ezekiel was to warn them of the sword coming their way, and if he failed, God would require Israel's blood at Ezekiel's hand.

Photo by Edward Cisneros on Unsplash

What had Israel done to cause God to call them wicked? They, who were created by God to worship Him, who were the chosen people to be a witness (through their worship of God) to the world of who God was--these people had turned from God to worship idols. In the worshiping of idols, they committed great moral atrocities. 

 Any worship, other than the worship of Jehovah God, manifests itself in wickedness. From the headhunter tribes who thought eating the flesh of their enemies would empower them, to the person who sees violence as a solution to their problems, to the Islamic terrorist, to the person who chooses to do good acts not for the benefit of others but for the benefit of themselves--the worship of themselves, of power, of spirits, of persons, of objects, philosophy, ideology, or worldview will ultimately result in wickedness. In fact, any worship--any form of adoration and exaltation--that puts the object of worship above God is wickedness.

When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Ezekiel 33:8

I love Ezekiel 33:11, because it reveals to me a Holy God who loves every individual and desires that no one die in his iniquity. It reveals to me a righteous God who wants people to live and not suffer the consequences of wickedness. I love that God; He's my God; and it is the love of that God that makes me want to obey Him. His commandments are not grievous (I John 5:3).

I have knowledge of true salvation. I know what the wicked, what every sinner, what every person on this earth, needs to do in order to be saved. How wretched and wicked of me if I hold back what they need to know to be saved from the coming sword.

Excuses are easy to make as to why I may not share the Gospel with every person I meet, and some of them maybe legitimate. However, even if I am held back (whether by fear, distance, lack of opportunity, etc.) from telling another how he or she may be saved from sin and enter into a beautiful relationship with God, their Creator and Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, I can still pray for that person and for those that may be Spirit-led to witness to them.

I can encourage those who are able to witness to people and in places where I'm not able. 

But ultimately, I must be ready in season and out of season to share my faith. It isn't a ritual. It's not an "I must lead X amount of people to the Lord in order to receive a crown." It is simply a compulsion that arises out of the deep love I have for Christ and His even deeper love for me.

My witness must come from my relationship with God, or it is nothing more than religion similar to any religion in the world. 

God loves me. God pursued me, because He desired me. He created me. And in that creation, He made a God-sized hole that only He can fill. He created me with the instinctive desire to worship Him. Sin would lead me to worship something other than Him. But by His grace and by the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, my inner, spiritual eyes are opened to see Him as the Person I must truly worship. 

The wickedness of Israel came from a broken, malfunctioning instinct to worship. The sinful nature, (present in each of us) could not override their need to worship, but it could cause them to make the object of their worship something other than Jehovah God.

God set about to woo them back. He called on Ezekiel to tell them what they needed to do to be reconciled to God. He loved them, but He, being holy, righteous, and perfect, could not accept their illegitimate worship of Him and of the gods they had come to adore.

My life must be a true witness of true worship of the One True God. Every human being craves to fill that worship hole. Some fill it with philosophy and ideology. Some fill it with a god they've created to make themselves feel good about the moral degradation in which they wish to live. Some fill it with a god that represents the anger and hatred they feel toward another and so can justify their acts as worship of their god. But my life must present the difference between their worship and the true worship of God.

I cannot do this by my own strength. My worship of God is only different from others (and the worship they have for their 'gods') if the Holy Spirit is present in my life, working to conform me to the image of Christ and to bear His fruit. 

My witness to another can only be effective if it is Christ in me that they see.

Lord, live through me to reach another. May I walk in true worship of You so that another is drawn to You because You are in me, leading me, loving me, cherishing me, filling me.