There is a chapter in Ezekiel that deals with “character”. It contrasts four sets of people. The good person who always does what is good for the other person, the prophet says he shall live. But the evil person who only does what is evil, he will die. However, what if a good son is born of an evil father, but he doesn’t walk in the ways of his evil father, he does only what is good, that person also shall live. Yet if an evil son is born of a good father but all he does is evil, then he will die. We can all understand that, can’t we? But what about the evil person that turns to doing what is good and right and true and genuinely cares for the affairs of others, what about his life? Ezekeil says that he will live. However, what about the good person who turns to evil, what about his life? He, the prophet says, will die. Well, let me ask you this question, what, of the last two, would you remember? Only the evil things of the one who turned to good, or would the good things he does now, outweigh the evil things he did early in his life? And then what about the good person who turns to evil, wouldn’t you wonder what happened to that person? What made him turn to evil? In this case, if all he does now is evil, won’t those evil deeds stand out and nullify almost everything he did that was good?
Someone said that “Character is what a person is, not what he or she is supposed to be. It’s through the hard struggles and stern conflicts with temptation and resolute self mastery that this Divine principle manifests itself in our lives. The sharpness of our trials and the hardness of our lot shows what we are and how long it will last.” A pastor tells the story of how he was out hiking in the hills of a mountainous territory when he sat down to rest. He got interested in watching an ant as it was carrying a piece of straw to its destination. When the ant climbed a good size boulder, it came upon a crack in the boulder that was like a precipice to you and me. The ant looked for several ways in which to get around that crack but there were none. Finally, as if he had been studying the situation, he took the piece of straw, laid it across the crack, then walked across the crack over the straw, and then picked it up again and continued on its journey. Then the pastor came to this conclusion, “There is no burden you and I carry faithfully, but someday is going to become a bridge to carry us over!” That’s a pretty good conclusion, isn’t it?
A young man was walking downtown with a friend of his when he saw a beautiful young girl coming their way. He actually knew this girl and turned to his friend and said, “What a beautiful soul she has.” He wasn’t talking about her physical beauty or the way she was dressed, or the way she carried herself in public. He was talking about the beauty of her soul, the beauty of her heart. Our inner life is the thing of highest value. An old and wise writer once recorded, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life,” Proverbs 4:23. Our character can get shattered, and may never be restored to its previous strength or perfection. But in order for it not to be lost forever, we must turn to the creator of our soul, Jesus Christ, who came to earth to save us from our sins. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that we have become new creations. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new.” So we turn our thoughts once more to prophet Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 18 where the Lord finished this chapter by saying, “Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn from your sins! Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you and get for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death. So, repent and live!” Isn’t it time for you to cast your old ways upon the Lord and to let Him change your character?
