Daily Devotional For Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Good morning Southside! Our daily devotional for today comes from Ezekiel 33:10-11:
“Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ (11) As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?” (NLT).
This passage reminds me of Jesus’ words in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (NLT). Our God is a merciful God who never wants nor enjoys when wicked, evil, sinful and rebellious people die and go to hell. For our text, let me share a story for you from Old Testament scholar Landon Dowden:
He tells the story during his senior year in college of being up late studying for an exam. His roommate was upstairs in his bed fast asleep and Dowden was jealous. As he studied, he kept smelling some aroma but could not quite figure out what it was. He began to go try to find the origin of the smell so he could determine what it was. As he did, he heard a lot of commotion outside his apartment. Then there was a knock on his apartment door and as he opened the door, the person shouted “Fire. The apartment complex is on fire. Get out.” He walked out and saw flames everywhere. His first thought was his sleeping roommate and he woke him up and they both escaped unharmed from the fire” ((Source; Landon Dowden, Christ Centered Exposition – Exalting Jesus in Ezekiel.”
Landon says that this experience taught him to appreciate the graces of the Lord. First, he says we need to appreciate the people God sends our way to help us. Second, we need to see every emergency we have escaped unharmed as an act of God’s grace. Third, he says he appreciates that the ceiling in his apartment did not come down on him and his roommate. Fourth, his professor let him postpone his exam for one day. He says that as he reflected back on that moment, there was one sound he never heard: the smoke detector alarm going off. It had failed to do what it was created to do.
Warning can be a matter of life and death. Think back to December 7, 1941. What if the US Fleet at Pearl Harbor was warned the attack was coming. We might not have lost 2,335 service men and had 1,143 wounded. Had we been warned on September 11, 2001, maybe all those planes would have been shot down first rather than us losing 2,606 people in the towers and the Pentagon. Warning can be a matter of life or death, especially when it comes to eternity.
We live on a planet where 2 billion people have no access to the Gospel. The only knowledge they have of God is enough to condemn hell for all eternity. How many people die in the USA everyday with no warning of their final eternal destination? Sharing the Gospel by every single believer is God’s Plan A. THERE IS NO PLAN B for how God wants the Gospel to be shared and spread globally. The greatest failure in evangelism is not in saying the wrong things, but in saying nothing at all.
Every single Christian is commanded to be ready to share the Gospel (1 Pet. 3:15). We share everything that is important to us . . . except the Gospel. It seems our sports teams, careers, health, hobbies, etc. are more important to us than Jesus Christ. One of the lessons the Book of Ezekiel teaches is that if Ezekiel failed to warn a wicked person as instructed by God, Ezekiel would be held accountable for that wicked person’s decision. And what was true with Ezekiel, is also true for us.
Reflection Assignment: First, pray to the Lord asking Him for opportunities to share the Gospel with others (Col. 4:3). Second, pray that as we share the Gospel, we share it clearly (Col. 4:4). Third, trust the Lord to give you the exact words to say (Col. 4:6; Matt. 10:19-20).
Scripture To Meditate On: Jeremiah 1:9, “Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, ‘Look, I have put My words in your mouth!’” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I ask for your forgiveness in my reluctance to share the Gospel with others, to warn them so they do not experience the fires of hell. Help me to share. Help me to trust You to put the words in my mouth. Help me to realize You hold me accountable if I do not do this. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly