Sound the Alarm – September 9, 2026

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260909dev.mp3

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“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.”
Ezekiel 33:7-9

Sound the Alarm

It was two o’clock in the morning when I was treated to one of the most unsettling sounds ever invented: a tornado alarm blaring from the cell phone on my nightstand. As unpleasant as it was, it served a good purpose. A tornado had touched down nearby, and the alarm warned me to take cover.

When God told the prophet Ezekiel that he was a watchman, he was giving him the responsibility to sound the alarm about sin so that the wicked would not die in it. If Ezekiel failed to warn them, the sinner would die for his own sin, but Ezekiel would be held accountable for failing to speak. If the warning was sounded and the sinner refused to listen, then the sinner alone would bear the guilt.

Here God lays before his people an unsettling but loving responsibility. Whether you are a pastor, a parent, a child, a brother, a sister, or a friend, God calls you to warn sinners and urge them to turn from their wicked ways.

That is not a responsibility to take lightly. To remain silent is not merely to leave someone in danger. It is neglecting the call God has given you.

But when you sound the alarm, you are speaking God’s Word, not your