Day 10 - Friday March 18 2011

Apologies for the gap this week - here's DAY 10 with bible reading from Ezekiel chapter 18.verses 21-28

At the start of the chapter from which this passage is taken, Ezekiel says that the Lord spoke to him about a proverb much in use in Israel that “the parents ate the sour grapes but the children got the sour taste.” He says that God told him that this was not the case in his kingdom and that the children will not suffer for the sins of the parents, but rather that a good person will be rewarded for doing good and an evil person will suffer for the evil they do. This then leads into this passage in which Ezekiel says that the Lord told him that if a good man stops doing good and starts doing evil he will die but that if an evil man stops sinning and does what is good and right he will save his life.

For me, it is this passage which offers hope to everyone and also gives the lie to the old saying “might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb”. It is all too easy for people to think that once they have made a mistake and done something wrong that there is no hope for them and to slide further into trouble. But from this passage we learn that it is never too late to turn our lives around. Of course it won’t necessarily be easy and it may prove a long road, but crucially, as long as the repentance is genuine and is matched by deeds, there is always hope.

There is also a lesson here, not just for those who dispense earthly justice on our behalf, but for ourselves in how we deal with people: If God isn’t prepared to write people off, then neither should we. The door should always be open to the possibility of allowing people the chance to recover from their mistakes.

Chris Burton

Wilbraham St Ninian’s URC