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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Ezekiel 18:20
“The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.”
That’s fair, isn’t it? It’s also a ‘Ring of Truth’!
Yes, it is, and what is more, it is relevant today. We are not victims. We are choosers. It doesn’t matter what your background, family life, circumstances and up-bringing have been. You are who you are and what you are as a result of all the choices you have made.
Yes, you didn’t choose your parents; you didn’t choose how they would bring you up and train you; you didn’t choose how they would live or where they would live – but along the way, you chose to follow their example or learn by it.
You chose to obey them or disobey them. You chose to believe in God or reject Him. You chose to stay with your parents or leave. You chose to be independent or sociable. You chose to be positive or negative. You chose your default attitude and whether to lead or to follow. You chose to respect or insult – to love or hate, to forgive or become bitter and hold grudges. Tragedies don’t change our character so much as reveal it.
Though the intellectuals, media and so-called professional experts may try and persuade you that it is all someone else’s fault – that is a lie. There are many things that are up to us – whether we like to accept it or not. You choose whether you go to work today or not. Whether you go to Church or not. Whether sport is more important than God. Whether you will concentrate on increasing your wealth or give it to the poor. You cannot blame anyone else for your character. You cannot blame your father or mother for what you are like.
History proves time and time again that good children have followed bad parents. Remember the Kings of Israel. Hezekiah, a good king followed Ahaz, a bad king (2 Chronicles 28:27-29:2); Josiah was a good king, his father, Amon, was a bad king (2 Chronicles 33:21-34:2). Similarly, bad ones have followed good parents – Manasseh followed Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 33), and Ahaz followed Jotham (2 Chronicles 28:1).
So too, today. We see ‘rebellious’ children from ‘great’ parents and ‘wonderful’ children from ‘appalling’ parents. So, we are choosers; not victims.
Don’t let anyone ‘hold’ anything over you. They made and make their choices, too. You don’t need to live up to their expectations or under their manipulation. Break free and let God give you His power to follow and serve Him alone. Each of us is accountable for our own sin and we need to own up to God that we need His forgiveness. We need to choose to accept His Saviour, Jesus, and to allow His Holy Spirit to empower us not to live in the old ways any more. It’s a ‘personal’ choice – no one can do it for us and we can’t do it for anyone else.
Jesus is the exception. He died, not for His sins, nor for His Father’s sins, but for our sins. No wonder the Sinless One having died for the sinful – could not remain dead.
As with Lazarus, let God bring life into your dead body, take off the bandages and let you walk free, today (see John 11:38-44). (See also John 1:11-12; Revelation 3:20; 22:17.)
There is no need for us to die for our sins – God has made the ‘Way’ of escape – His Name is JESUS (see John 14:6).
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