SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
Scripture: Ezekiel 3:16-21

Ezekiel 3:16-21 says, “Now it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.’” Ezekiel 3 makes it obvious that we are called to be watchmen. It is the foundational principle from which Jesus gave His warning in Matthew 10. When we see individuals heading toward destruction and we do not warn them, we become responsible for the destruction when it strikes. We become complicit in their destruction and we end up paying a price for it. The scary part of the principle of the watchmen is in verse 20 where it says, “…his blood I will require at your hand.” That is a very hefty price for being silent when we should speak up.