*Scripture: Ezekiel 36:13-28 (NKJV)* 13 "'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because they say to you, 'You devour men and bereave your nation of children,' 14 therefore you shall devour men no more, nor bereave your nation anymore," says the Lord GOD. 15 "Nor will I let you hear the taunts of the nations anymore, nor bear the reproach of the peoples anymore, nor shall you cause your nation to stumble anymore," says the Lord GOD.'"
16 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 17 "Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. 19 So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. 20 When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.' 21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. 22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD, "when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God."'" *Devotion* We hear the Lord's ringing indictment of Israel, and we know that we stand guilty just as they. We have not valued our neighbors' lives as we ought, much less valued God's honor as their Creator. The heathen speak evil of our God because of us, because we have profaned His name. We see so many churches that claim to follow Christ, but do nothing of the kind. We wonder how we might stop them…or at least stop them from claiming to be "Christian" and "Lutheran." Yet, their profaning of the name of the holy Triune God will continue as long as ours does, and we will profane His name until we are removed from this vale of tears and stand finally sinless before Him in Heaven. What are we to do then, give up? Certainly not, but understand that we are profaners and hallowers of God's holy Name at the same time. Because the only one to hallow God's Name did His fulfilling of all righteousness in our place, we may confess our failure to hallow His Name. Likewise, we are made able to trust in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus on the Cross and the promise of forgiveness attached to it. In so trusting, in confessing and being absolved, we are returned to what He gave us in Holy Baptism, to the new heart and spirit that He gave us in places of our hearts of stone. Our flesh often does not display our re-creation in Christ, but such is not our assurance. Our assurance is in Christ Jesus, in Whom we are clean and by Whom the true God is our God.
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