July 9 When Will They Ever Learn?

July 9

Will They Ever Learn?

 

Ezekiel 33:21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city has been struck down." ... 30 As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, 'Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.' 31 And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain."

 

MANY of us remember Pete Seeger's song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" It was popularized by the trio Peter, Paul and Mary and spoke of the recurring sad cycle of war through generations. Young girls picked flowers. They married and the young men went off to war. Too many soldiers went to graveyards. And the graveyards turned to flowers. Young girls picked the flowers...

           The cycle of war moved from generation to generation. The haunting refrain, "When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?" left one wondering, "Yes, when will we ever learn to stop killing each other?"  

           Ezekiel could have sung that song. AS you know, Ezekiel had been warning the Jews of Jerusalem's coming destruction. The Jews had ignored him. But then Babylon destroys Jerusalem. The strong fortified city is burned and thousands die. How do the exiles respond? People who mocked Ezekiel began to talk well of Ezekiel, and they went to listen to his words.

           But sadly they did not listen to put the words into the fiber of their faith and obedience to God. They are the church members who come to hear a popular speaker, but they do not care what he says - they just like the way he talks. Certainly God's words are not for them! Surely they would never do what is heard from the pulpit and the Holy Bible. 

           Yes, that is far too often the hearts of Jesus' church. We enter the sanctuary, pretending to desire to know what God says. But we do not do his words. We keep on in our sinful patterns, and we wonder why nothing changes.

           Where, people of God, has God's truth gone? From generation to generation we have too much ignored him. When will we ever learn?

Prayer: Open our hearts to learn your Word and to put it into the habits of our daily lives, Lord God. In Jesus' name, amen.