Scripture Daily

Context No. 3612 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 1:10-14: in context

10As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man. The four of them had the face of a lion on the right side. The four of them had the face of an ox on the left side. The four of them also had the face of an eagle. 11Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Two wings of each one touched another, and two covered their bodies. 12Each one went straight forward. Where the spirit was to go, they went. They didn’t turn when they went. 13As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. The fire went up and down among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning went out of the fire. 14The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Ezekiel's vision of the four living creatures is strange and awesome: each with four faces, of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, gleaming like burning coals and darting like flashes of lightning. It is a vision of the majesty and mystery of God's presence, beyond our full comprehension.

But one detail is worth pondering: wherever the Spirit was to go, they went, and they did not turn as they went; each went straight forward. The living creatures moved in perfect, unwavering obedience to the Spirit, going exactly where he directed, without deviation. There is a picture here of the kind of responsiveness to God's Spirit that heaven itself displays: immediate, undeviating, straight forward. The creatures nearest to God's throne are perfectly attuned to his Spirit's leading. It is a glimpse of what it means to be truly led by the Spirit, to go where he directs without turning aside, moving straight forward in obedience wherever he sends us.

Am I responsive to God's Spirit like the living creatures, going straight forward where he leads without turning aside, or do I resist and deviate from his direction?

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