Scripture:

Ezekiel 10:19

"While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them"

Today, as  I walked through chapters 9-11 of Ezekiel, we see the judgment of God poured out on the people who, of their own choosing, had turned from Him in complete rebellion and wickedness, yet even in this time there was a remnant of people who did not, and those were spared the judgment.   But here in verse 19 of chapter 10 we see this movement of God that should wrench our hearts: it is God leaving the temple, His Glory leaving Jerusalem; the word here used (Hebrew  ‘ă·mōḏ ) it means to stand, to linger. God paused and lingered. It suggests that His sorrow was over what He had to do: to depart from Jerusalem, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God would follow them, His presence would go with them into the place of their exile, He would be with them.   

Let that simmer in your heart today: that God loves you so much that even in your rebellion He had been pursuing you, seeking to restore you, establish you, set you back in the place you belong.   That is the story of the Prodigal Son: God is always waiting for His children to turn back to Him, to have an ah-ha moment, a moment of self-reflection where they decide that there is no better place than in their father's house.

Today our God-Shot is just that, like Paul reminds us in Romans 8:28-29 that nothing can separate us from the Love of God.   Though that sad day, the presence of God left the temple in Jerusalem, He would go with them into the place of exile, to be with them in their difficulties, their suffering.    This should impact your hearts today: even when you get yourself into a mess, completely reject God with your lifestyle, your actions, and find yourself in a pit, God is seeking you out, looking to restore you, to redeem you from the pit, to return you to a place of His presence.  Like the loving father in the Prodigal Son's story, He is waiting for us to come home, so that He can restore us, give us a place at His table.   

Lord, thank you that in my darkest days you did not abandon me, that you pursued me while I was far from you, that you redeemed me from the pit, that you are still doing that today for your lost sons/daughters. I pray that those who are in their own personal pits that they come to their sense, surrender their lives, and come to know the God I serve, who is compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, who seeks and saves what is lost, whose love endures, that they would know the salvation I know, in Jesus' name, Amen!