25 May 2005 Devotion for Today “Eating Words” Ezekiel 2:2-3, 7-10
Have you ever had to “eat your words?” These are words we wished we had not said, words we have spoken when we were out of line, or words that we thought were true only to find out later that they weren’t. Similar expressions convey the same idea: “put your foot in your mouth,” “eating crow,” etc. Whatever expression you use to convey this embarrassing situation, it always makes one feel foolish, ashamed, and hopefully resolved to check out the facts before saying something again.
Ezekiel, however, is charged to eat words. Not his own words-but God’s words. In chapter two we read about Ezekiel’s call to the prophetic ministry.
“And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet: and I heard Him who spoke to me… “You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me: and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. Then He spread it before me: and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.” Ezekiel 2:2-3, 7-10
Ezekiel needed to open wide his mouth and take what the Lord had given him. That is submission. When we do not submit, we are described by God as rebellious-and such the prophet already described in this passage. We thing of rebelliousness like an out-of-control teenager who wants his or her own way, who pitches fits of fury and holds the whole family captive to his or her anger until they get what they want. We think of rebellion as an uprising mounted with the likes of Pancho Villa or Che’ Guevarra. These are extreme examples of rebellion, to be sure. And there is something about rebellion that man idealizes- such as the member of the Rebellion against the Galactic Empire in a “Star Wars” movie. But rebellion is identified in our hearts whenever we refuse to be submissive to God’s Word or God’s Will. When we think- “I’ll do it, but not right now because I’m busy,” we are rebellious. When we say, “That’s your interpretation,” that is rebellion. When we do things like “Its okay because its not hurting anyone, everybody does it, or we are not sure what that Scripture means,” we are rebellious and out of line with the Spirit of God.
Before Ezekiel could be called as a prophet, he had to learn to submit by eating God’s Words- consuming them as we would eat Cherrios for breakfast. Ask yourself today, what are you eating? Receive God’s Word into your mouth today and to be sure you are on the way to doing His Will. Have a blessed day!
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