There are many Bible stories that are engaging, encouring, and, sometimes, downright cozy – but not Ezekiel 8. Ezekiel 8 is one of the tough love chapters for me. I need it, but I’m not quick to run to it. 

God is giving Ezekiel a vision of the truth behind the facade of his people. Each image is worse than the one before it, each revealing the truth of their inner life and reality. Ouch. God sees all. Humans seem to have a powerful commitment to image control, but God sees beyond all that into the absolute truth of our condition, beyond even the lies we tell ourselves. (Hard to think about because I’m so convincing. Ask me. I prefer to believe myself.)

One side of that coin is seeing ourselves and remembering ourselves in an unconverted self. I see and know how selfish and self absorbed I am and see that as the truth. That’s not exactly true either. The other side of the coin is that the Lord sees me through the eyes of His sacrifice for me. He views me through His salvation and mercy. I may be bad, but I’m loved, accepted, part of His family, and He continually works to heal and redeem me through His infinite love. 

Now that’s confusing. God can see all of me – the best and worse there is to see in me – and chooses love, compassion, and truth. The truth doesn’t go away. Real is real. I’m always in the need of repentence. It is just that the absolute truth is not the final word. Jesus is the final word. I have accepted Him and His redemption package and am spending the rest of my life opening it and having it therapeutically applied to my life through the unswerving work and faithfulness of the Holy Spirit. 

I know that I’m a people pleaser. I want people to like me. Sometimes I work hard at it because I’m convinced that, if they like me, I can find a reason to like myself. Then, there is Tona. We’ve been married over 45 years. She sees me, the real, the fake, the true. She sees the full mixture, my ability to do things beautifully in the Lord and my ability to be rotten to the core. (That’s a Crabby Appleton reference which only the oldest among you will get. Look up Tom Terrific.) Tona is a true example to me that “Love covers a multitude of sins.”

It seems that I stand in the middle of the conundrum. The truth of my nature and the forgiveness through which the Lord chooses to view me. The two are attached by the unbreakable bond of the love of Christ and His salvation. I know that I don’t understand this completely. I do believe that my back and forth motion between failing and Christ operates as the generator which powers my growth forward through the efforts of the Holy Spirit. 

Quite fankly, gratitude is a big part of the package for me. I look at myself, naked with apple in hand and the bite of it fresh on my lips. I look into the eyes of the Lord and His truth with forgiveness and mercy. I prefer Him. I am thankful for Him.