Ezekiel 3:19
Yet if you have warned the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.
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Ezekiel, both prophet and priest, was called by the Lord and told through an amazing vision to speak to the Israelites, the people of God—a stubborn and rebellious people—whether they listen or not! Whether they chose to obey or not they would surely know that a prophet had been among them! {Ez.2:3-5}

What a lesson for us, the family of God, today knowing that we too have been called by the Lord and that we have a purpose in our new lives—God has made everything, including you and I for His purpose. {Prov.16:4}

Each believer, not just the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers {Eph.4:11} has been given a ministry to fulfill as the apostle Paul clearly wrote. {1Cor.12:7,11} And, like Ezekiel, we must be faithful to the Lord's calling in our lives regardless of what response we receive!

One of the most egregious examples of someone who was called to an incredibly important ministry in his case and then failed to faithfully fulfill it was King Solomon! God had anointed and appointed him to build the temple in Jerusalem, but his true ministry as the king, just as he had prayed for, was to rightly judge, care for, God's people. {1Ki.3:9} And the Lord equipped him to do exactly that giving Solomon a wise and discerning heart. {1Ki.3:12}

The tragedy was that unlike Ezekiel, Solomon forgot God's gift and his purpose. He had forgotten why he had been given such wisdom. {Ecc. 2:15} He believed that doing what God had called him to was a grievous task. {Ecc.1:13} That of course was not the case for him nor can it be for us, because as the Lord Jesus would say to all who will hear, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” {Mat.11:30}

So King Solomon chose to do the things that pleased himself rather than God and came to hate all the fruit of his labors. {Ecc.2:18} And of course the temple he had finally built was later destroyed by the Babylonians!

The moral of the story is that if you choose to focus on doing what will please you, or just fail to do what the Lord wants and has called you to, you will never have enough, you will never be satisfied and the end result will be pleasing to no one! Never lose sight of the fact that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount training His disciples and feeding them the food of the Spirit:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)

THE LORD IS FAITHFUL AND WHAT HE CALLS US TO HE WILL EQUIP US FOR