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This is the final entry finishing up the writings on Ezekiel 37. The first entry from December 5th, 2019 may be found here and the second written on February 20th, 2020 is here.
This entry ONLY came as a result of the FABULOUS LADIES at the Joy in the Journey Ministry reaching out to me for some content. I was NOT ready to write this post, but their message to me was a signal that we are now in the "fullness of time." I hope this will do!
"Then He said to me, 'Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live."
-Ezekiel 37:4-5
The first two entries were written back before COVID-19 had started to spread in the United States, the Interim entry was written on March 27th in the beginnings of nationwide shutdowns and states of emergency being declared. As of today, November 22, 2020 there have been over 58 million cases, and over 1 million deaths worldwide.
I do not know if the earlier entries were forebodings of the darkness to come, but the Interim entry most certainly was a reflection on the current dire situation.
I had kept hoping things would get better, that this horrible virus would recede and life would get back to "normal". Once that happened, then I would write this post. However, at this point, there is no known endpoint for this pandemic. I am writing this post anyway.
Even though the world is filled with tragedy, death, destruction, and so many horrific circumstances - as Christians we are HOLY, set apart, called to LIVE! And not just live, but to flourish with Jesus in our midst. The same is illustrated in Ezekiel. The dry bones are BEYOND DEATH, BEYOND HOPE, and life has truly, fully left them behind. They are destitute. However, here is a fun fact - DNA can still be extracted from crystal aggregates in bone fragments. That is, everything that made each and every set of bones unique was still there. The image of God was still in them! And God is still with us! Regardless of how dry our bones feel, we hold the Holy Spirit of Jesus in our hearts. God has not abandoned us, He has not released His claim on our lives.
Furthermore, after God does indeed breath life back into the bones (and gives them back bodies/muscles/skin to boot), Ezekiel says they were "a vast army" (Ezekiel 37:10). They were NOT ALONE! Even if you are a single orphan hermit isolated from the world on a deserted island, if you are a Christian then you have generations and generations of brothers and sisters as a part of God's family plus God/Jesus/Holy Spirit who are CONSTANTLY with you and will NEVER leave or forsake you. I tell my 3-year-old, "Jesus lives in your heart!" There's nowhere we can run where God will not be with us.
Finally, after we find our life back through God, what are we supposed to do? How do we go on in the midst of a fallen world? We shall LIVE! Sometimes, all Jesus asks us to do is to keep living our lives. THAT is our ministry to Him! Whatever your circumstances are RIGHT NOW - you are living your life! You are obedient to God. And if you are a Christian, then hopefully you are intentionally living your life WITH Jesus at the center. Ezekiel chapter 37 concludes with verse 28 "The nations will realize that I, God, make Israel holy when my holy place of worship is established at the center of their lives forever." We, the "vast army" of God, do not need to go out and conquer any nation. Instead, God told us "I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you IN YOUR OWN LAND" (verse 14). So, my dear friends, let us live and settle in our lands, with God among us. We are the warriors of our spaces and places, we are LIFE and the lights in this darkness. How we live our "ordinary" lives with Christ's love in our hearts is pleasing to God - may Jesus help us to never forget this! No matter how dark this world becomes!
[The photo below is of two star-forming nebulas that are approximately 163,000 light-years away from us. It was featured to celebrate 30 years of the Hubble Telescope. Please read more about it here! ]
