Ezekiel 16 tells a story about a beautiful bride that is loved and adored by her God. She is given beautiful clothing, a wonderful home, unconditional love, and is redeemed from the unhappy life she would have had. In return, she shows her unfaithfulness by turning to other men. Only men bring her happiness and her God is left forgotten on the side. He was the one that saved her life. He rescued her from a life of loneliness and death, giving her life and joy she would have never found anywhere else. And she repays God by showing Him exactly how unfaithful she is and throwing herself to anyone who will take her.
I read this story this morning with sorrow for the girl who gave up joy with such a faithful God for a fleeting happiness with anyone else she could find. The mistake she is making is so easy to see from the outside. We can see the mistake she is making and the result of her whoring around. We can see the heartbreak God must be feeling, having given up so much for the girl. I find myself wishing that I could show her all she is missing, all she is giving up, for a happiness that will never satisfy her! This story has been seen time and time again in girls chasing after boys, alcohol, and drugs in the hope of finding an earthly happiness. We all know how it pans out. The boy breaks her heart and happiness is suddenly too far to reach without him. The alcohol and drugs only bring happiness until the hangover takes over and you remember all the heartache you wanted to forget.
It doesn’t take long for anger to replace the sorrow. How can these people not see the mistake they are making!? You see it in movies and see it in so many books, even in Ezekiel 16, and they continue to run from God, making mistakes that so many before them have made before. How could they do that? I would never make such a ridiculous mistake. I would never be so silly to fall for that trick from the devil, thinking that something else could bring me more happiness than God.
And that is the beginning of my story. The story where I begin dreaming of something greater than the life I have. A story of adventure and saving the world and having others look at me with respect and being desirable and having a greater purpose than just being a regular person! The story like I read about in books. The story so different from the one God has saved for me. I find myself looking from the outside, realizing that I am no different from the bride in Ezekiel 16. She ran away from God looking for quick pleasure on Earth, abandoning the love and kingdom God had saved for her. I run from God time and time again, wishing for a more “exciting” life where it looks like I have a purpose. Because apparently the purpose God has comes second to the one I have dreamed up for myself. Like the bride, I throw aside what God has given me, thinking that I know better than Him. I lose sight of the life God has for me now, and the extravagant life I will have with Him in heaven when I leave this earth.
My idols are no different than the ones others have that I roll my eyes at. I, too, find myself seeking after something greater than God and have no right to judge someone for the same thing. Instead, I remind myself and my friends about the hope we can find in Christ. In Exodus 20:5 it says, “You shall not bow down to them [idols] or serve them, for I he Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” I can never trust my heart to be pure enough to seek after only God. I know that I am broken and continue looking to other things, but we can trust that God will draw us back to Him when we love Him and keep Him commandments the best we can. He will not abandon us here. He knows about the struggles of our hearts and promises to change it for us (“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you” – Ezekiel 36:26). We must recognize the extent of our sin and rejoice because our God has redeemed us.
