Wednesday, November 2, 2022

today's meditation (Ez.19) Recognizing Destructive Ways

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Ezekiel 19:1-14)    “As for you, take up a song of mourning for the leaders of Israel  
2   and say,
    ‘What was your mother?
    A lioness among lions!
    She lay down among young lions,
    She raised her cubs.
3   When she brought up one of her cubs,
    He became a young lion,
    And he learned to tear his prey;
    He devoured people.
4   Then nations heard about him;
    He was caught in their trap,
    And they brought him with hooks 
    To the land of Egypt.
5   When she saw, as she waited,
    That her hope was lost,
    She took another of her cubs 
    And made him a young lion.
6   And he walked about among the lions,
    He became a young lion;
    He learned to tear his prey;
    He devoured people.
7   He destroyed their palaces 
    And laid waste their cities;
    And the land and its fullness were appalled 
    Because of the sound of his roaring.
8   Then nations set against him 
    On every side from their provinces,
    And they spread their net over him;
    He was caught in their trap.
9   They put him in a wooden collar with hooks 
    And brought him to the king of Babylon;
    They brought him in hunting nets 
    So that his voice would no longer be heard 
    On the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
    Planted by the waters;
    It was fruitful and thick with branches 
    Because of abundant waters.
11 And it had strong stems fit for scepters of rulers,
    And its height was raised above the clouds 
    So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
12 But it was uprooted in fury;
    It was thrown down to the ground;
    And the east wind dried up its fruit.
    Its strong stem was torn out 
    So that it withered;
    The fire consumed it.
13 And now it is planted in the wilderness,
    In a dry and thirsty land.
14 And fire has gone out from its stem;
    It has consumed its shoots and fruit,
    So that there is no strong stem in it,
    A scepter to rule.’”

This is a song of mourning, and has become a song of mourning.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
One should be saddened at the outcome of a destructive life, but it's even more saddening that one doesn't recognize and embrace what they could have when it is good.  Destruction and death are a part of sin.  Only in God is there life, hope and joy.  

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