Ezekiel 37:12-14 - Therefore
prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I
am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back
to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am
the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in
your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done
it, declares the LORD.' "
Ezekiel was carried to a valley full of old….dead…scatter
bones in a vivid vision. God told him to tell them to get up and live. He
watched as the bones gathered themselves into the skeletons they had once been…grew
muscles and tendons….covered themselves with flesh…and stood before him. Then
he watched as God breathed life into them and they became a vast army.
It was God’s visual way of showing Ezekiel just how easy it
was for him to restore the dead…dried up spirits and bones of the Israelites
that had been oppressed for so long.
Even though they had been worshiping the idols of their oppressors…God
was still able to bring them back to life with him. He was even going to join
the two split nations of Judah and Israel back together in the process.
God gives us his very spirit when he enters our heart for
the first time. He breathes life into
what was once lost…and begins to rearrange our dry bones to fit the will he has
planned out for our life that remains. I
like to think of that spirit as a great fire inside us…that we can feed with
prayer… Bible study…worship…and faithful works.
But if we begin to leave out one of these important elements that feed
our spirts…or turn to others for our comfort and strength…then our fire dwindles…and
becomes a coal that grows colder and colder….eventually killing the
relationship we once had with God.
It gives me such hope to know that God can take the fire
that I sometimes let grow to cool…and heat it back up again. Once I recognize how cool I have let it
become…I can return to him and admit my sin so he can relight the passion I once
had to pray and study and worship. He can breathe new spirt into my heart…and set
me back on the right path.
Father…thank you for reminding me that no matter how cold my
heart becomes…and how dry I let my old bones become…you are just a cry
away. Forgive me for the times that I
have let pity….loneliness…pride…and involvement in the world’s ways allow the
fire you placed inside me when I was 14 become cool coals. Breathe new spirit into me this morning…and
fan that flame back to its once burning passion to do all I can to increase the
numbers who believe and trust in you.
Amen.
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