Eating God's Word

"So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat... I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. He said: Son of man, go now to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them." Ez 3:3-4

The call of Ezekiel, the first prophet commissioned outside of Israel, is clear and direct. God gives Ezekiel a scroll and commands him to eat it. The Prophet obeys; the words are sweet and the message God gives him will challenge the Israelites in exile to reform their lives. They have only to listen and respond to the God who can never stop loving them.

We all need God to act directly from time to time, to be clear with us, to show us a path to take and a role to assume. Although these kinds of messages come rarely, we would be naive to believe that each time the saints sat or knelt to pray that God spoke to them directly. In fact, the saints are continually reminding us that their distractions and confusion fill their time with God more often than not.

It is not for us to say how God will speak with and to us. Our task is to be faithful to periods of quiet listening, to be content with God's regular silence, but to to continue to give God our time and attention no matter how distracted we become. Though we lose focus with God, God remains faithful to us and this is the power of God's relationship with Ezekiel. When the time is right, God will give us the words we must say.

Today, find a place and time for quiet listening and ask God for nothing.

Has God ever been as direct with you as God is with Ezekiel?