Devotion:
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Read Ezekiel 48:35.
This week we will focus on the aspect of God which we call omnipresence, meaning that God is present everywhere and always. Today’s verse concludes Ezekiel’s prophecy. When the Babylonians took some of the people from the Southern Kingdom into exile, Ezekiel was taken with them. The first 25 chapters of his prophecy comprise what we refer to as “gloom and doom.” But then he shifts and gives us God’s promise of restoration. God was not finished with Israel, and God would defeat its enemies, restore it, and bring the captives home. Ezekiel provides God’s instruction on how the land was now to be divided among the tribes, with a portion reserved for a new temple and for worship. The city was to be named “the Lord is there.” What does this have to do with us today, you may be asking. God’s promise to be with us is eternal. The prophet Isaiah promised that a virgin would give birth to a son called Emmanuel, which we believe was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Emmanuel means “God with us.” Jesus fulfilled the prophecies, coming as God in flesh among us. There is no more comforting truth than the fact that God is with us and will never, ever desert us.
Pray with me: Thank you, Almighty and Ever-Present God, for being with us, with me. We count on your presence in our lives. Forgive us when we take that presence for granted and help us to live in ways that reflect your presence in what we say and do. Amen.
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