Everybody wants to be promoted in life. When they think about promotion it is usually in terms of a raise in pay or wearing a new title. However promotion is much more than a title or a raise in pay. It is managing more responsibilities and becoming more accountable as we see in the case of prophet Ezekiel when God called him to be a watchman over Israel. This was God’s instruction on his appointment to his new position as a watchman: ‘‘Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me’’ (Ezekiel 3:17).
Ezekiel was warning both sinners and the righteous that were going astray. Imagine having this responsibility; think about the kind of response it would have elicited from people. Some would have been grateful for the truth and turned their lives to God, but some others were highly offended at Ezekiel for warning them so sharply. Ezekiel kept shouting all the same because God had said, “...if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand” (Ezekiel 33:6).
When Paul said, “I have preached the gospel; I am free from the blood of all men,” his remark explains not only the joy but also the relief of accomplishing a God-given task. Not taking our responsibility to warn sinners and the righteous alike would be a dangerous mistake.
To prepare for promotion, you would have to measure up for it. God requires faithful stewards to work with, not observers, takers, talkers, or loafers… such people are avoided by the Lord and so promotion eludes them.
Are you thinking about promotion? Then think about having more responsibilities and becoming even more committed to the things of God.
