The Decision that Pleases God

Daily Devotional – Saturday, December 28, 2024
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!
Ezekiel 18:32 (NIV)

Human beings believe in the punishment of evil people, and rightly so. We experience some degree of pleasure when those who have wronged us go through some form of suffering, for instance, imprisonment, some form of physical pain, or even death.

Repent and Live

Moreover, we often feel justified in asking God to visit the worst form of punishment on our enemies. When a terrorist or mass murderer dies, for example, we feel God has done it because He is happy to have such a person off the face of the earth.

Contrast this with what the LORD declares through the prophet Ezekiel. “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD.” (Ezekiel 18:32). It turns out that God actually is pained when a sinful person dies! How different is God from us?

The Decision that Pleases God
Come to think of it: which parent wishes death on even his most wayward child? Having created us in His image and loved us to the point of sending His Son to die for us, why would He delight in the death of any of us? God feels the pain of losing us because we refuse to turn from our sins.

Instead, God wants us to “repent and live!”. He will not force us. We have the freedom to choose. When we choose life, He is delighted. In contrast, when we decide to pursue the path of sin, rebellion, and death, He feels the pain. Today, make the decision that pleases God by repenting and embracing eternal life.

Prayer
Dear God, help me to make the decision that pleases you by forsaking sin and embracing eternal life.