The story is told that a frog was put into a pot of cool water. The cook began to slowly increase the heat of the pot but the frog didn’t try to jump out. Little by little it became accustomed to its surroundings and didn’t realize that it was getting hotter and hotter. As the heat increased, the frog failed to heed the signs of its impending doom and was soon boiled to death. The story is often used as a metaphor to show how significant changes can happen in our lives without us doing anything to stop the disaster that will come upon us because we are slowly lulled into accepting things that we never would have in the past.
In Ezekiel 33:1-6 it says, “The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.” Ezekiel 33:1-6
Ezekiel was the watchman, the one that was to sound the alarm to the Israelites that harm was to come them. A watchman Holman Bible Dictionary writes,
“WATCHMAN:One who stands guard. Ancient cities had watchmen stationed on the walls. Their responsibility was to sound a warning if an enemy approached (2 Kings 9:17; Ezek. 33:2-3). Israel’s prophets saw themselves as watchmen warning the nation of God’s approaching judgment if the people did not repent.”
Ezekiel was responsibility for warning the Israelites. If he warned them, then they were responsible for what they did with the warning. However, if Ezekiel failed to warn them of the impending disaster, he would be responsible for what happened to them.
I was thinking how we are like the watchmen for our families. At times as our kids grow, they slowly become accustomed to the culture around them. Things that once shocked them, they now see as everyday occurrences. The harm comes when they let their guard down and allow things in their lives that have no business being there. Things that will bring nothing but pain and separation from God. As parents, our role is to be the Watchman. To be the one that sounds the alarm because of our great love for them. It is our responsibility, our job to reveal God’s truth in a loving and gracious way so that they can walk in freedom. If we fail at this job to sound the alarm when the enemy is in the house, then we will be held responsible for what happens to them.
We must be vigilant and watchful and not become sleepy. If we do the enemy will come in and bring destruction. Stay awake…stay aware…fight for the souls of our kids.
