Sometimes when I’m reading the Bible I pause and wonder why the scripture I’m reading is in there. I know “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV) so when I’m reading one of those scriptures I ask the Lord, “What about this? How is this useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness?” I believe in the word of God so when I’m asking God this question I really want to understand. This was the case today when I read through most of Ezekiel 40 and 41.

When I pray I will often ask that God open my eyes to see, my ears to hear, and my heart to understand all that He is doing in and around me. All of us were once blind, deaf, and had hearts of stone before we came to know the Lord. Even so, I find that we are much like Elisha’s servant who was afraid of the Aramean army surrounding them at Dothan. Although Elisha knew that he had nothing to fear from his enemies his servant didn’t because he didn’t see what Elisha saw.

Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

2 Kings 6:17 (NLT)

In Ezekiel 40 and 41, the Spirit of the Lord has taken Ezekiel back to Jerusalem fourteen years after its fall. He shows Ezekiel the temple and then measures all of it. Here’s a sample of the text.

I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.

Ezekiel 40:5 (NIV)

I’m usually very engaged when I’m reading or listening to the Bible. However, I will confess that my eyes start to glaze over a bit when I’m reading text such as this found in Ezekiel 40 and 41. Hence, my query to the Lord.

We often talk about how God knows everything and has a plan for everything. However, if you’re like me, when He allows you to see the tiniest parts of that plan and how it has unfolded you’re in awe.

In 2005 a man in Sacramento, California got an inkling to add onto his house. This man wasn’t someone who did such things lightly. He always had a reason for everything he did but he didn’t know why he had the notion to build such an enormous room onto his house. However, he was also a man who, when he got something into his head to do, did it. Therefore, the man built this room into his house, boarded up the windows, put some stuff into it and let it sit for twelve years.

In August of 2006, I went to church, as I often did because it was something that pleased my wife and made my Sunday go a little easier. I didn’t know the Lord and, as far as I can remember, wasn’t seeking Him. However, on the sixth day of August that year, I met Him, and my life was changed forever.

In 2013 I got a phone call from my Dad telling me I had a brother. Shortly thereafter my family had a small get-together where I met my brother and his family. My brother and I, to our surprise, both lived in California. He lived in Sacramento and I lived in Santa Barbara. Although my brother and I exchanged e-mails and were friends on Facebook we didn’t see each other again until the summer of 2017 when he drove down to Santa Barbara for a day.

In 2017 the wildfires in and around Santa Barbara were worse than usual and, in the early part of December, I was starting to freak out. Over the years I had gone through a lot of fires in Santa Barbara and had people that I needed to look after. However, by December of 2017, I was living alone and felt, for the first time, a pressure I had never felt before. At the time it looked like the city was going to have to be evacuated and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I already had some friends who had been evacuated and everyone else I knew was in the same boat that I was in.

In the midst of this, I got a telephone call from my brother who decided to call me out of the blue. He didn’t know about the fires but told me I could come up to Sacramento if I needed a place to go. We talked and realized that a move to Sacramento would be beneficial to both of us. He had a room that he needed to finish but I’d have my own kitchen, entrance, etc. in a large house with a huge yard close to downtown.

If you’re wondering what Ezekiel has to do with all that I’ve been going on about then that’s good. It means you’ve not gotten bored and wandered off. We know that Jesus has prepared a place for us in Heaven. It’s one of the things we’re looking forward to when we leave the earth. In Ezekiel 40 and 41, the Lord showed Ezekiel, through prophecy, the temple in Jerusalem that the Israelites would be worshipping in. The temple, as we know, was burned when Jerusalem was sacked by King Nebuchadnezzar and the people carried off to Babylon.

The Jews were in exile in Babylon for 70 years. They knew that they were going to be there for 70 years because God told them ahead of time. When God showed Ezekiel this vision of the temple in Jerusalem He could have just shown him a completed building. Instead, God walked Ezekiel through it, measuring it and telling him about each room as they went along. Ezekiel, in turn, was to tell the Jews what he saw.

When I go somewhere I like to take pictures. When I lived in France and went anywhere in Europe I took a lot of pictures. I have loads of pictures of me on this train and on this bus, walking to that place, etc. I was excited about everything I saw. Everything. The details were important to me and my seemingly mundane pictures are proof of that. If God had just shown Ezekiel the completed temple that would be one thing. However, God takes Ezekiel on a guided tour. When God tells Ezekiel, “This is the Most Holy Place” (Ezekiel 41:4 NIV), He’s not just telling him that it’s the holiest place. God is telling Ezekiel, and the Jewish people, that He’s thought of them and has created this place for them, in detail. God’s also giving them hope for things to come.

I used to like going to open houses in Santa Barbara. When you’re walking through a place where you might be living you get excited about it. Jesus tells us “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2 NIV)? We also read in Revelation about the Holy City and all that is in it. We are told, “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children” (Revelation 21:7 NIV). When we read of these promises from God it’s not just a place that He’s prepared for us but an entirely new life where “He will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” because “the old order has passed away” (Revelation 21:4 NIV).

Therefore, when I read that God is always going to take care of all of my needs here on earth and Jesus is preparing a place for me in Heaven I believe Him. The room that my brother added onto his house a year before I was saved, and 12 years before it would be used, is just one way that I’ve seen that God has a plan for my life that goes beyond anything I could dream or imagine. The same is true for you, my friends. The same is true for you.

Do you know God? God knows you and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so that we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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