Day 5: Proved holy
I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through You before their eyes (Ezekiel 36:23).
Heavenly Father, the sons of Korah declared that the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth (Psalm 47:2). They call us to praise Your name: Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises (Psalm 47:6). But instead of being praised among humanity, all day long Your name is constantly blasphemed (Isaiah 52:5).
Lord, without exception You have promised salvation to all who love the name of the Lord (Isaiah 56:3-7). And because You are holy, Your people are called to honor Your name (Leviticus 10:3), to uphold Your reputation, and to be witnesses that You are God (Isaiah 43:10).
But the history of Your ancient people shows them bringing dishonor to Your name and Your character. The prophet Ezekiel records that they doubly profaned Your name—first by their conduct and their actions (Ezekiel 36:17), and then by the outcomes and repercussions of their disobedience and rebellion (Ezekiel 36:19-20).
O God, help us to profit from Your correcting message! All around us, we see evidence of what the psalmist David described, I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin... (Psalm 36:1-2).
But as with Your ancient people, You call us first to self-examination, for in committing awful blasphemies against You (Nehemiah 9:18-26), Your own people pave the way for Your name to be profaned among the nations (Ezekiel 36:23). But You are God, and as before, You will show the holiness of Your great name.
Meanwhile, the doors of Your grace remain open to the scoffers and those that despise Your patience—for You are not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). But ultimately, God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change— He will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God (Psalm 55:19).
Still, Lord, Your mercy remains to the very end, and You call us to pray and to love, and to let our light shine before others, that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
O Lord Jesus, Your church is in dire straits. Forgive us for profaning Your name in compounding ways—by our conduct and our actions, and by the consequences of our sins against You. Forgive us for causing the world to ridicule and profane Your name.
Lead Your worldwide church to the godly sorrow that brings repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). Help us to become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Help us to honor Your name, and to shine among them like stars in the sky as we hold firmly to the word of life (Philippians 2:15-16).
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