You need to make it your own before you share it with others.
Revelation 10:8-10 Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again: "Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. "Yes, take it and eat it," he said. "It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!" 10 So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.
It is amazing how we treat the word of God as just another piece of literature. We don't really listen to ourselves and let it sink in when we say that this is the words of God. We should be in awe that God has given us the story of mankind from beginning to end so that we can know our creator and his purpose for our existence.
Our lack of interest in God's commands is absurd but it isn't anything new. From the beginning of history we have been very good at doing things our own way, instead of learning from the mistakes of the characters mentioned in the Bible, we rush to make the same mistakes as we act like we are better than them and would never do those things. (1 Corinthians 10:3-6, 11-13)
John took the word of God and ate it, he took it into his inner being so that it would influence his character, he needed to digest it and apply it to his own life before he could effectively give it to others. If you aren't consistently being influenced by the word then how will your audience take you serious when you share the word with them? (Ezekiel 3:10)
John was told to reveal the future events to let us know what God's plan is for rebellious people that do not know our Savior. The judgments that he had to warn us about were difficult to digest and were very upsetting. That's how God's word should affect us.
The sweet promises that are given to God's children are contrasted with th extreme punishment for everybody else. The Christian bears witness of both life and death, blessing and curses (2 Corinthians 2:14-17, Deuteronomy 30:15-18). If we take God's word serious we will understand how John felt.
Ezekiel 3:1-3 The voice said to me, "Son of man, eat what I am giving you--eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel." 2 So I opened my mouth, and He fed me the scroll. 3 "Fill your stomach with this," He said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.Ezekiel was also sent to warn hard hearted, rebellious people. God warned him that the people wouldn't listen but it was still his responsibility to give them the warning so that they are responsible for their doom.
God's children are sent to the rebellious to warn them of the penalty that they must pay for rejecting the Savior. I am responsible to give the warning and they are responsible to make the wise choice and repent.
Digging into the word of God can be a great resource if we take it in and and fully digest it so that it is a part of our character and it influences us to stay in line with God's desire for our lives.
I need to take in God's word daily, meditate on it and apply it to my life. Then I can be a credible testimony of the life changing power of the gospel.
Thank you Lord for your word. Thank you for the sweetness of the promises to your children. Help me to remember the bitterness and the devastating consequences that are also found in your word so that I can sound the warning. (Ezekiel 3:16-27)
