Ezekiel 24:18
So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
Ezekiel is one of the most remarkable Christians in the Scriptures. Ezekiel’s character was second to none. He was not a pastor of a large church. He did not have a great gathering of followers, and many would have called him a failure because nobody liked his messages. He would have been considered a divisive person because he preached truth that exposed the compromise of the religious leaders.
However, two words reveal why Ezekiel was a man of such great character. The Scriptures teach that he went to preach in the morning to the people, and when he came home that evening from preaching, his wife died of a stroke. The key to his character was the next morning. Ezekiel said, I did in the morning as I was commanded. “I did” was the key to his character. His heart was broken with the loss of his wife, but he did what he was commanded to do. He didn’t feel like going and doing as he was commanded, but he did as he was commanded. If Ezekiel had waited until he felt like going, he would have never obeyed God’s commandment to go and preach in the morning despite the death of his wife.
Doing right out of character and not because of feeling is the key to living a victorious Christian life. There will be times when you don't feel like doing what you are supposed to do, but you must do despite not wanting to do. Those who do the greatest works for God don't do those works because of feeling, but because they are supposed to do them. Many have the mindset that doing right out of obligation instead of because of a heart that wants to do right is wrong. It is always right to do right even when you don't feel like doing right or don't want to do right. If the only time you do right is when you feel like doing right, you will find yourself not doing right most of the time.
Doing right because you are supposed to do right is more spiritual than doing right because you feel like doing right. There will be days when you won’t feel like reading God’s Word, but you are still to read God’s Word. There will be days when you won't feel like praying, but going to pray despite not having a warm feeling to pray is still right to do. There will be days when you won't feel like running your bus route or teaching your Sunday school class, but showing up and doing it anyway takes more character than only showing up when you feel like doing these things. Churches are not built by people who feel like doing right, but they are built by people who do right because they are supposed to do right.
The test of your character is not doing what you are supposed to do when you feel like doing it, but doing what you are supposed to do when you DON’T feel like doing it. Show me what you do when you don't feel like doing right or don't want to do right and I will show you the strength of your character. Christ likely did not feel like dying on the cross because he asked the Father if there was a way to let this cup pass from Him, but He still died for the sins of mankind. If He waited until He felt like doing it, we may not be saved today. The strength of Christ’s character was showing us our responsibility is to do what God expects us to do despite not feeling like doing it. Your character is revealed by how much right you do when you don't feel like doing right. You will never be used greatly by God until you do what you are supposed to do whether or not you feel like doing it.
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