EXALTING GIFTS ABOVE ITS GIVER

Reference text: Ezekiel 16:1-15

We read a very interesting text today, one that provides a rather vivid and detailed account of God’s efforts in the nurturing of a vessel or a nation. We see an array of decisions that ultimately results in the first verse of interest: “You became famous among the nations for your extraordinary beauty—beauty that flourished only because I lavished My splendor on you.(Ezekiel 16:14)

God did not hold back in his making, He went all out putting in every ingredient that mattered: the delicate choice of clothing, the perfect selection of food and the tenderness of care. It was to produce the perfection of beauty. However, at this peak, came the second verse ‘But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking.'(16:15)

The message version renders this verse as ‘but your beauty went to you head‘, and the result of this is always hautiness, pride, and dishonour- all of which precede great falls. While the focus appears to be on beauty, many words fit in its place: ‘ wealth, health, gifts, influence, power, name etc. Here is the lesson:’ no gift should have a place higher than it’s giver because from the very moment we exalt any gift above the giver, it means we have lost sight of the reason for which it was given. That sets us on course for a grand slam car crash

#sly