Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
Ezekiel 44 is a vision. It is about the ideal service of God’s people in God’s place. It is Ezekiel going to Jerusalem in a vision and to a temple that is not yet made. In Ezekiel 44-46, we find the people who will one day minister in this temple. It is, in short, a picture of ideal service to God, what God intends.
What does ideal service look like? What does God intend for you and me to be when we serve Him? What characterizes our work? Whether you work at a grocery store or are a preacher there are two things to think about.
First, remember that what you have belongs to God. As God gives Ezekiel this vision in chapter 44, over and again you find the personal pronoun “my,” as in “my sanctuary,” “my charge,” or “my judgments, law, statutes, Sabbaths.” In other words, everything these priests will eventually have belongs to God. That has always been true.
The reason Ezekiel’s people went into captivity and the reason the temple was originally destroyed was because those who were in leadership did not serve. They were serving themselves, and thus they were not serving God or the people over whom God was sovereign. Think about Eli’s sons who enriched themselves instead of serving God. Think about those who were priests before Ezekiel’s day. They forgot that what they had belonged to God. This can be true regardless of what place you find yourself in today.
Secondly, it necessarily follows that because what you have belongs to God, it matters how you treat it. In verse 23 the Bible says, “And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Profane simply means “that which is common, that which is trodden underfoot.” A floor is profane. It is not separate, special, or removed. It is trodden on by feet continually throughout the day. God is not profane. God is holy. He is different. He is clean, not unclean.
So, what you have belongs to God and it matters how you treat it. The Bible tells us in the New Testament that we are to do our service “as to the Lord, and not unto men.” So, where do you find yourself? It may be a common, everyday place in a common, everyday job, but the One Who made you and the One Who gave you what you have makes what you do today mighty important and special.