The question, “What have you done for me lately?” comes to mind as I read Ezekiel 33.
God is concerned about your way of life right now. The past is not important. The future is but a hope. What counts is ‘right now.’
None of God’s people can live on past glory. Your faithfulness to God yesterday buys you nothing with God. He wants to know how you are living today. But in the same way, your sinfulness in the past doesn’t have to determine your relationship with God today. No one (who now wants a relationship with God) has been so evil in the past that they are irredeemable today.
Ezekiel 33 also reminds us of the importance of listening to those who call us to faithfulness. The prophet’s spiritual well-being hangs in the balance, determined by the performance of his calling. In chapter 34, the shepherds (priests, prophets, elders) of Israel likewise hang in the balance. But one should not think that such a calling ended with the prophet. We are all our brothers’ keepers, called to warn, teach, and encourage one another in the way of God. Failure to do so exhibits an ungodly lack of concern for those God loves and puts our own souls in jeopardy.