OK, so even in my less than stellar state of being (sinuses…yuck), I still feel like preaching on something that I read in Ezekiel yesterday. The Valley of the Dry Bones…a story that we all have read or heard at some point in our lives. It is taken from Ezekiel 37. So, we all know the story. God shows Ezekiel a valley of dry bones and asks him if he thinks that the dry bones can live. Ezekiel responds that God is the only one who really knows. Then God tells “Zeke” to prophesy to the dry bones. He gives him just the right words to say, and when Zeke was obedient, the Bible says that he heard a rattling sound, and watched as tendons and sinews, and flesh began to cover the body. Once this was finished, the Bible says that Ezekiel saw a valley covered in lifeless bodies. Then God orders Zeke to prophesy to the 4 winds that they may impart breath into the bodies. Again, Zeke is obedient and the result is that Ezekiel sees an exceedingly large army. Does anybody see what I’m seeing here? I’m so sure, but the impact of it really hit me yesterday morning.
See, the part of this that has me so riled up lies in the two things. First, the lifeless bodies result from the word..I mean from the WORD. At the word of God, the decayed body was recreated. It reminds me of the verse saying that in Christ we are new creature, that old things pass away and all things become new. We literally see this happening in the Old Testament. God speaks and bones become functioning bodies once again. And while they are lifeless, they are bodies, capable of living. They are capable of infinite things, but first they must be imbued with life. The key here is that from bones, dried and de-calcified bones, God’s word creates newness. Secondly, life comes after God’s breath blows into the lifeless bodies. They are no longer bodies covering the floor of a valley. They are an army. They are men of purpose. They are men no longer merely capable, but ready and willing to be about action. They are men who know what they have to do, and they are ready to do it full out.
It’s like us. We receive newness when we receive Christ into our lives. We are new, brand new. Our minds are being renewed. Our spiritual bodies are being reconstructed into the image of Christ. Then when we receive the Spirit of God, when God breathes on us, our purpose is revealed. We move from merely taking up space to finding a place in Christ to inhabit. From that place, our purpose moves us forward into our destinies. The difference is so stark. From bodies lining the valley to an exceedingly large army. What kind of image does that provoke for you? For me, I see men who had only minutes before been empty, who are now filled with Godly desire and fervor.
That’s what God wants from all of us. He wants us to live. He’s tired of looking down at his creation and seeing people taking up space. He’s tired of watching people sit in churches and small groups and not share their lives, not open up their hearts. He is tired of people merely being content to live out their lives on a string, when God so desperately wants to cut the string and show us that Christian like is not us being puppets. He is sick of the same sermons, the same music. He is sick of the same responses, the same calls. We can no longer be just bodies covering the valley floor.
God just wants to breathe. In God’s breath, vitality and passion are found. When God breathes, His life becomes our life. When God breathes, we receive His revelation, we feel His heart, we understand His word. When God breathes, we are reborn. What He reforms on us at salvation, His breath reanimates. He replaces the deadness in our eyes with such a deep desire to live that we are willing to fight to the death to protect the light and life of Christ that is burning withing us. The Gospel of the Kingdom is not merely about dying to self. It’s also about living!
God’s breath transformed useless bodies into a fierce army, ready and primed to do accomplish His will. So, my challenge to you today is this:
1. Will you be Ezekiel? God has asked all of us at one time or another if “these dry bones can live”. We are standing and looking over a valley filled with dead and dying people. We are smelling the stench of rotten decay. God has asked the question. How will we respond. My Pastor preached a message a while back saying that we all could prophesy. Will you? God’s word is there. Will you? God’s urging is there. Will you? The dry bones in your neighborhood, your job, your church. Can they live? If your answer is anything other than yes, then I suggest that you get your eyes checked, and your faith strengthened. YES!!! The dry bones can live, Lord! That is our reasonable response!
2. Will you be an army of 1? Will you catch God’s breath and allow it to fill your lungs? Will you allow your red blood cells to vibrate with the life of Christ? And then once this happens, are you ready to abandon yourself? See, the great thing about those dry bones is that they had long ago ceased being who they were when they died. Their identity had passed along with their lives. So, when they were reformed and reborn, they were merely extensions of God’s will. In the army, they are trained to be on one accord. They are one thought with one mentality. They are extensions of whoever is giving the commands. So, will you receive the breath of life and become an extension of God’s arm, or His heart, or His feet?
It’s time to live! Amen!
Until next time fam, be blessed!
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