Boldness

Today’s Reading – Ezekiel 1 – 4

But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 3:7 – 9)

Ezekiel was writing to the children of Israel that were in captivity in the land of Babylon. He was God’s prophet sent to preach the message of repentance to a very “stiff necked” and “rebellious” people. They were a very stubborn bunch; rejecting the repeated warnings of God. The Israelites are not unique in their “bullheadedness”: the people of our generation are just as stubborn. Yet God told Ezekiel that he would cause him to be just as stubborn in his passion for delivering the message of God without compromise and without wavering.

We read often in the New Testament of the Apostle Paul praying for boldness, and liberty to preach the Word of God with great conviction and passion. As God’s ambassadors today we need to also be very bold in our life and witness. Christians today seem to be a very fearful bunch, hiding in the world, and almost apologizing for their relationship with the Lord. Why are we like that? We have the omnipotent Creator of the universe living inside of us. We should be a confident people, expressing with our life an assurance; a boldness that plainly declares that we are the children of the King.

We obviously have a faith problem. Our faith is weak. We can cure that by spending more time in the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) The people need to come out from among the influences and philosophies of this world, and get into their Bibles; and into their churches where the Word of God is being taught. Maybe then, we will have a little more confidence and boldness as we represent the Lord in this generation.

By the way, the picture above is of Billy Sunday, who was one of the boldest preachers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Look him up on the internet; read about him. He was as bold as a lion; unwavering in his zeal, and uncompromising in his message and mission. No doubt, this is the reason that he was able to make a dramatic impact on his generation, leading many thousands to the Lord Jesus Christ.