Bloody Hands

"Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God."

~ Acts 20:26-27

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Have you ever gotten the impression that someone was telling you something that sounded like you had heard it before?

Well, that was this passage for me just recently. I knew what Paul was saying sounded familiar, it really resonated in my heart like something I had even felt conviction about before. But I just couldn't place it. So I went searching. I probably went the long way about it (manually flipping through passages rather than consulting a reference source) but I finally found the reference - Ezekiel 33, where God places Ezekiel as a watchman for Israel.

So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. {Ezekiel 33:7-9}

This is probably one of the most frightening passages to me in all of the Bible.

It is true that this passage applied directly to Ezekiel. But Paul shows here that it applies to him and by extension it also applies to the modern follower of Jesus. It is saddening to think about people who are confronted with the truth of the gospel, yet still reject it for some reason or another. I find myself praying often for people in that category. But it is also incredibly convicting to think about the times I could have spoken the truth and shared my faith, my reason for living and hoping, but didn't. Aside from the fact that I disobeyed God by not responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, their condemnation before God is at least in part laid at my feet. If they never believe in Jesus for salvation, at the judgment day God will look to them and ask, "Did you not observe my creation? Did you not see evidence of me there?"

But He will also look to me and say, "Weren't you my watchman? Why did you say nothing?"

Of course, the Holy Spirit works in the heart and draws people to salvation - you won't be held responsible for something that's not even your responsibility in the first place. But we must preach. We must share. We must call people out of the darkness and into the light. It's the very DNA of who we are as Christians.

The last words (and last words are so important, aren't they?) of the Lord Jesus before He left this earth were that we were to be His witnesses throughout the entire earth.

And if we don't?

Their blood is on our hands.