"I Found None"

        This phrase is taken from Ezekiel 22:30.  Chapter 22 of Ezekiel is a chapter which lays out the many sins of Jerusalem.  Ezekiel is told to show Jerusalem "all her abominations" (v. 2).  They were guilty of:  Shedding blood and idolatry (vv. 3,4), and mistreating father, mother, strangers, widows, and the fatherless (v. 7), to name a few.  As a result, God assured them he would pour out his fury upon them (v. 22).  In verse 30 God said:  "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it:  but I found none." 

            We live in a sinful society.  Things have gotten so bad in our country that mass shootings, burglary, divorce, abortion, homosexuality, addiction, etc. is no longer surprising.  If fact, these things have become so common that even God's people many times are seemingly not even alarmed.  Perhaps we have become callous.

            If God were to look for a man today who would stand in the gap that the land should not be destroyed, would there be one found or would God say "I found none"? 

            God calls upon us to be a holy people (1 Pt. 1:16), perfect (Mt. 5:48), sanctified (2 Tm. 2:21), peculiar (Ti. 2:14), separate (2 Cor. 6:17), the salt and light of the world (Mt. 5:13,14).  Are you living up to these things?

            The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation (1 Cor. 1:21; Ro. 1:16).  It is the seed of the kingdom (Lk. 8:11) which will save when implanted in the hearts of good and honest men (Ja. 1:21). 

            God's people today are the only hope of this world hearing the soul-saving message of Christ (Eph. 3:10,11).  For the sake of our society, our neighbors, our families, we must live our lives in such a way that we would be qualified to stand in the gap.  Be the Christian God expects you to be regardless of the choices and actions of others.

- Donnie Oliver