Today's Reading:

There is no reading today, but you can use this time to catch up on any days that you may have missed this week. 

Click here to access prior days.
 

I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety.  I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.  The trees will yield their fruit, and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.
Ezekiel 34:25-27

This is safe and secure. What does that mean? Blessings, Rain. Fruit. Crops. We are given a grace moment as a pure gift from God, the Good Shepherd, to us, His sheep. It was not earned, but it was promised. Safe and Secure.

What God’s people needed the most after being uprooted and exiled was to feel safe and secure. They had been scattered, oppressed, and afraid. The “safe and secure” was not just to be out of harm’s way, it was to know thatnothing could happen to them, because God Himself would be their protection. They could sleep in the open wilderness or under a tree without fear. The wild beasts were gone because their Shepherd was there. The enemy could not plunder. Rest.

When rest comes, then the land is able to respond. Showers of blessings fall. Rain. Not too much, not too little. This brings fruit on the trees and crops in the ground. No more famine. All of this from His blessing. It was nothing His people did.

“I will break the yoke… I will rescue… I will send rain… I will make them secure.” The Shepherd’s heart does not just protect the sheep from danger; He surrounds them with peace and blessings and claims them as His own. Our Shepherd sits at the open barn door, watching and waiting, so they do not have to. Safety did not come from war with fortified walls and weapons, but from the deep rest only a true Shepherd can give. A peace that allows any place to become a quiet place for sleep.  No predators. No plundering. No fear. Within the safety that God Himself provides, the land gives its fruit. Yet the first and greatest gift is still the same: safe and secure.

Where do you feel God’s peace as your Shepherd so you can let it go and go to sleep- safe and secure?

 Ezekiel chapters 17–40 first continue God’s strong warnings of judgment against Judah and the nations around them for their ongoing rebellion and idolatry. After Jerusalem finally fell, the message shifted toward hope. God promised to gather His scattered people, give them a true Shepherd, restore them, and make bones come alive. Finally, chapter 40 started with the vision of the future temple.

 

Today's discussion question: 

Click here to link to our Facebook group for discussion, questions, and additional content.