Tuesday, November 1, 2022

November 1, 2022

For some reason when I hear about bones coming together, I think about an old episode of Mickey Mouse, called Haunted House, where skeletons came into a house that Mickey had stumbled across in a storm. It was scary as a kid to think that could even happen (I didn’t know about Ezekiel’s story in the Bible then), but after rewatching that episode as an adult, I see it a little differently. The skeletons probably knew Mickey could play the piano and wanted to have some fun dancing and scaring him. They knew what they wanted from Mickey, and they got it.

If we think about it, the skeletons saw a shot and aligned their lives with Mickey to get the music going. What if we did the same with God? What if we trusted him enough to align our lives to his word to get through some of the struggles we face?

God told Ezekiel to preach to dry bones, so he did. And the bones listened. The bones started to come together and flesh began to cover them. That sounds way scarier than Mickey's experience, but both would freak me out. Pastor Ben told us over the weekend, “When your imagination is alive, it’s over.” I can only imagine what Ezekiel saw as the bones and guts came together—similar to the gore we see in movies but in reverse—forming the bodies made by the Creator, right before his eyes.

Ezekiel 37:4-6 (NIV)

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Could you imagine seeing, I mean really seeing, the Creator work? Imagine him giving you a message to speak over bones of all things. (If you have a fear of public speaking, the beginning of that message wouldn’t be too bad.) If it were me, I would probably either pause at the beauty of witnessing creation or run away from the gory scene in front of me.

Matthew 4:4 (NIV)

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

When Jesus was tempted, he replied to the tempter, “We cannot live on bread alone.” We need to live however God tells us to; we are all his creation, spoken into existence. Jesus knew this because he was with the Father when it was spoken—in fact, Jesus is the Word! Therefore, we follow the Word by obeying Jesus and honoring him with what we do with our lives.

Questions:

Do you see the story of Ezekiel align with any other stories in the Bible? Read the story again, and put yourself in Ezekiel’s place. How would you feel about watching creation take place before your eyes?

Next Steps:

Share the story of Ezekiel! Show your family and friends that the Bible has so many stories that are entertaining as well as life-giving.

Listen to the Father in prayer.

Speak life-giving words into the people who haven’t met Jesus yet so they can see the amazing things God has done by speaking life into us all.

Prayer:

God, show me ways to speak your life into people I meet, whether they know you or not. We all can use life-giving words throughout our day. Father, you know who needs to hear it and when—please give me the courage and strength not to shy away from the opportunities you put before me to share your Word, your Son and my Savior, Jesus. You have given me the breath in my lungs to live so that I can spread your life-giving message. I thank you for it every day I’m alive. In Jesus’ name, amen.