Dec. 5 Devotion: Can We Handle Truth?

Can We Handle Truth

Ezekiel 33:31

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

As I pondered on what the Lord gave Pastor on Wednesday evening, I just couldn’t help but think of how accurate this verse is in describing society today. Our text exposes the tragedy of religious hypocrisy that we see today in a lot of so-called churches. God tells the prophet that Israel flocks to hear him as eagerly as any devout congregation—arriving on time, taking their seats, sitting at attention—yet the entire performance is theater. They listen to the word of the Lord with apparent hunger, but obedience never follows. They are searching for truth, but then don’t like the truth when it’s laid out before them. They say the right things, they might even amen a thought, but their hearts are turned more towards the world rather than God.

This is not mere apathy; it is calculated duplicity. They seem to love the feeling good about themselves by going to church, but not at the expense of a changed life.

People today seem to stream into churches, stream sermons, post Scripture graphics, and tear up during the final chorus—then return to lives dominated by ambition, greed, pornography, gossip, or bitterness. They collect teachers who tickle their ears while carefully avoiding any who might demand repentance.

God’s indictment is chilling: He sees the heart, not the lifted hands. Emotion without obedience, adoration without surrender, is not worship—it is mockery. True hearing always produces doing; anything less is self-deception dressed in religious costume.

The question Ezekiel forces upon every hearer is brutal and necessary: Are we sitting before the word as God’s people, or merely play-acting while our hearts chase another master?

God bless,

Bro. Josh Richardson