Ezekiel 20: 11-13a – “I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them he shall live. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness…”
Most of us don’t like someone telling us what to do. Even rules and laws annoy us or in some cases, make us mad. With our independent natures we like to do what we want.
That was especially true for Israel. From the time God worked miracles to bring them out of slavery in Egypt, to the time they returned from Babylonian captivity, God was pleading with them to stop rebelling against Him, to return to Him, to obey Him as their Lord, to follow Him, to do His commandments. But like us, they felt that God’s laws and commands got in the way of how they wanted to live their lives.
The problem was that they (and we) could not grasp the purpose and the value of God’s will.
Here in Ezekiel chapter 20, God explains the eternal purposes of the rules, laws and commands that God gave them, and it wasn’t just to keep them in line. God was not simply forcing His authority on them like some dictator.
In verse 11 God explains that by following His rules, laws, and commands, i.e. doing His will, God himself would be leading us along the path that leads to life, the highest and best life—eternal life!
These are not just some arbitrary directions to force us to submit to His reign over us. God’s will is an amazing gift to us! It is the secret pathway that leads us to the best and most glorious life we could ever lead. God’s will is the “narrow way” Jesus talked about that brings a person to heaven.
Submitting to God’s will for us changes us. It is the educational process that results in us becoming like Jesus! It is the “Christ School of God”.
Do you want to know how to be like Jesus? This is it! Submitting to the will of God teaches us things about God that allows the Holy Spirit to move, shape, and direct our thoughts, words, and behaviors to align with those of Jesus Christ.
In verse 12 God says that even giving Israel the Sabbath Day was so that they would know that God is the Lord who sanctifies them. Keeping the Sabbath wasn’t just to be done as some religious duty.
It was to teach them about God!
God didn’t just make overwhelming commands and declarative statements like, “You shall be holy, for I am holy,” and then turn us loose to try to figure out how to do that. All of God’s directions for our lives are God’s educational program for us.
Each time we submit to God’s will for our lives, if we would take the time to look, we would see that God is training us to be like His Son!
God has a glorious, holy and eternal goal for us, and He uses our submission to His will to be sure we get there.
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