You’re not done yet
“Then lie down on your left side…390 days; so you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned you forty days, a day for each year.” – Ezekiel 4:4-6, CSB
“Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my god.” – Revelation 3:2, CSB
Day after day after day
Ezekiel had a long, emotionally-charged task ahead of him: 430 days of lying down on the job. But this was no vacation, no lazy-man’s ‘effort’; this lying down was going to require some serious self-discipline, a 430-day prophetic visual aid for the people of God. The divine discipline of God that Ezekiel was representing was coming whether he followed through with all 14 months of his assignment or not, but God had tasked him to be a living declaration to His stubborn people. Day after day after lying-down day, God’s testimony to them through Ezekiel was being reinforced.
Tenacious consistency
We can only imagine how the story must have spread through the exiled community as Ezekiel steadily – and stubbornly! – declared God’s word to them. The message? Jerusalem would not survive its stubborn rebellion against God. The city would eventually fall to the siege by Babylon (which would happen, sadly, as recorded in Ezekiel 33:21 and Jeremiah 52). God was indeed speaking through the tenacious consistency of Ezekiel.
“Strengthen what remains.”
Much like Ezekiel, God is still speaking through our own obedient consistency today. Thankfully, we have a much happier message to bring, even to people who may feel like their world is on a trajectory similar to Jerusalem’s, and Jesus’ words to the church in Sardis carry that message. While many in the congregations of Sardis had a crumbling, dying faith, Jesus’ challenge to the faithful remnant was: “Strengthen what remains.” Death was not inevitable, and God was not finished with them. Were adjustments necessary? Yes. Corrections must be made. The good news was that they could be made!
A trajectory of life
The trajectory of death, what was “about to die,” could be shifted to a trajectory of recovery and strength. The church in Sardis still had work to do, and so do we. When we respond to Jesus in faithful, consistent obedience, it doesn’t have to be flashy to set us on a trajectory of life.
Think:
What is one thing you believe God has given you to say through your life?
Your consistent, faithful obedience can become a testimony that outlasts your lifetime. We’re still learning from Ezekiel’s obedience thousands of years later. Ask God to grow His faithful consistency in your life.
No matter what in your world may be difficult or on a negative trajectory, think about one positive thing that remains in your life, ministry, or business. Ask God to show you how to strengthen that thing over the next 12-14 months. Radical changes can occur, giant steps forward, with one small action taken consistently over time.
Is there any common theme or challenge that you’ve heard over and over recently, or over the past months or even years? Something God is challenging you to either to pursue or to adjust in your life? If so, talk to a trusted leader about how you can respond in tenacious faith.
Prayer:
“Jesus, thank you for your prophetic direction that challenges me and helps me to get in step with You. Where I need to be consistent in the trajectory of my life, by Your gracious strength help me to be faithful. Where my trajectory needs adjusting, may I adjust to Your life-giving, strengthening path. Teach me to see the good in people and to strengthen them in it!