Ezekiel 33:7 –Ezekiel 33:9 (HCSB)

“As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me. If I say to the wicked: Wicked one, you will surely die, but you do not speak out to warn him about his way, that wicked person will die for his iniquity, yet I will hold you responsible for his blood.

But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he doesn’t turn from it, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.”

This is a word for me. I am the watchman God has appointed. God speaks to me and my duty is to proclaim that message. If I do not then blood will be on my hands. If I do then I have rescued my own life.

I must preach the message God gives to me. Shepherds, by virtue of our authority, are the objects of criticism. This goes with the territory. There are four areas of a preacher’s life that are most open to criticism: his preaching, his leadership, his shepherding, and his life. One those areas most criticized, perhaps because it is the most public and consistently on display, is his preaching. This I have learned: not everyone is going to like my preaching. It’s like Golden Locks and the Three Bears—for a third it is too hot, for a third it is too cold, and for a third it is just right. You cannot please everyone. I hear someone say, “The Apostle Paul said he was ‘all things to all men.’” He did it to “save some”—today some would say he was “too evangelistic!” A point we forget: they chopped his head off! Obviously he didn’t please somebody.

This truth is applicable to every one of us. God gives us a message and we have a responsibility to share that message. That message is the Gospel. If we fail to share that message God will hold us accountable. Many, am afraid, will stand before God with blood on their hands.

Let it not be true of you and me. Let us be faithful in sharing the Gospel today with a boldness motivated by love.