The
righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of
the wicked will be charged against them (Ezekiel 18:20).
It was a commonly
held belief that a child was liable for the sins of his father. The
parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge (v. 2). Here, God makes it clear, through his
prophet Ezekiel, that a man is responsible for his own choices, but not for the
choices of his parents.
He goes through an
extensive treatise on a righteous man who makes good choices and his son who
makes bad choices and then a grandson who again chooses well. The grandson will
not be punished because he had a wicked father, and the wicked son cannot
escape judgment by saying, But my father was a respected member of
the church! Each individual, each
generation has to live with the consequences of its own choices.
The prophet goes on to
describe a man who turns from his wicked ways to live a good life: None
of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him (NIV 1984, v. 22). God is not looking for
excuses to punish anyone.
The lesson seems to
be that our present and not our past determines our destiny. Though we cannot
change the past, we certainly do have control over our present. There’s always
a right choice to make right now.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
What’s your next right
choice?
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