Shocking revelation!

No verse has ever hit me like Ezekiel 33.1-9!

Ezekiel 33:1-9

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: 'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman,
3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the
people,
4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the
sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head.
5 Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be
taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his
blood.'
7 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of
Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.
8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will
hold you accountable for his blood.
9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will
have saved yourself.

Here is a crystal clear analogy of a man whose job is to watch over a city by being on the lookout for any threats to the city. This particular watchman fails to perform his duty to warn the city of oncoming attackers. The bible tells us that the blood of the city will be upon the watchman's head.

If you think about it, this passage make absolute sense! Suppose I discover that the apples in the fridge at home, have gone bad and will result in a stomach upset if ingested. Suppose I, for whatever reason, do not warn the rest of the family of the danger of eating those apples. Who is to blame when, the next day, everyone is sick?! Who will feel guilty if one of the family members die of complications caused by eating those apples? On whose head will the blood of the deceased be? Who is accountable for the death? Me, me, me!

This scripture shook me to the core!

As a child of God, I have been given the responsibility to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus. If I have ever come in contact with anyone and not warned them of the wrath to come, should they perish, their blood will be upon my head! Yes, they will be punished, but there blood will be on my head!

When I realised this, I thought of all the people I have come in contact with since I came to know the Lord, cousins, uncles, aunties, inlaws, classmates, schoolmates, visiters at church, guys I play soccer with a couple times a week, neighbours etc. How many of them have I warned?! How many of them have I lost contact with? How many of them have I failed to minister to by being a testimony of God's grace? How many of them have I, not only, never preached the gospel to but never lived the gospel to? How many have I, myself, mislead by not correcting their ways?

Names began to flash through my mind. People who i'll never be able to speak to about God love because i've lost contact, people whose blood is upon my head.

This passage tells me that I should warn all those I am in contact with, all my classmates, all my teachers, all my neighbours and family. Its a huge task but it is not optional or else their blood is on my head.

Psalms 1:5,

"Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous."

is clear on the fact that the ungodly will not stand. It is truly by God's grace alone that I shall. It is truly by God's grace that we, Christians, shall.

Mwindula.