The Faithful Watchman

Ezekiel 3:17-19
(17) "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
(18) If 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, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
(19) But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

This is the beginning of a longer passage where God gives instruction to Ezekiel. He explains what Ezekiel is to do with both wicked and righteous people. Basically, it is Ezekiel's job to deliver the mail.

Our job is no different. We are to deliver the gospel to people. We cannot make them believe. In fact, there is nothing in this passage where God demands persuasiveness from Ezekiel. He simply wants Ezekiel to be faithful in delivering His message. Those who hear the message need to do business with the Lord.

It would seem to me that this has clear application for the Christian today. It is certainly true for those who are called to teach and preach, but I believe it is generally true for those who have repented and believed in Christ. I don't think that God will demand blood from us if we do not share the gospel because that demand has been satisfied at the cross. However, I do believe that we are to be as faithful as Ezekiel was.

I know that this is something I am not great at. I'm OK, but anyone who is consistently faithful must also have a proclivity for hot tubs because he is going to spend a lot of time in hot water. There is certainly a tension here.