November 7th | Ezekiel 37

I remember years ago taking my two-year-old daughter to the zoo. It was a very hot day and after about 20 minutes, the tiny toddler was exhausted from moving her short legs and begging me to carry her. Thankfully, we had brought a stroller to push her along through the zoo. However, while the stroller helped her tired legs, it couldn’t help with the heat. She sat in the stroller and became increasingly agitated and hot. I kept telling her, “Please drink some of this water, it’s so hot out, and it’ll make you feel better.” But if you have ever talked with an agitated two-year-old, you know their favorite response to a loving father is always, “NO!” 

She was tired, I was exhausted, and then all of a sudden, I saw a glimmer of hope in the distance. I squinted my eyes, thinking it might be simply a mirage in the desert, but as we drew closer, my heart raced with joy as I saw it was really there. It was an Icee stand! I bolted to the man, ordered a large Cherry Icee, gave him all the contents of my wallet, and rushed back to my daughter. With two straws, both of us were satisfied and restored, ready to continue through the zoo. 

Our greatest need in that moment was an Icee to cool off. For you today, what is your greatest need? Do you need more money? Do you need repaired relationships? Do you need a bigger house, better kids, or a car that doesn’t break down? There are a lot of needs, but your greatest need today is none of those things. It is that you would be brought from death to life by the powerful Spirit of the Living God. Things will pass away, but our souls are eternal. We need to be brought into a living relationship with almighty God before it is eternally too late!

In Ezekiel, the prophet is transported by the Lord to a valley of dry bones. 

Ezekiel 37:4-6, “4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel was astonished because these were dry bones. Ezekiel had heard of God resurrecting people from the dead, as seen in the likes of Elisha the prophet, but these bones were dry. They had been dead a long time. They had no flesh. How could God cause them to live? 

Ezekiel 37:9-10, “9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” 

What made the difference for these bones? The breath of the living God. For us today, we might feel alive, but we are dead. We need the Spirit of the living God to breathe into our dead hearts and to cause us to live. If we put our trust in Christ, God makes us a new creation and gives us His Spirit to dwell with us and be our helper. 

Are you thirsty, exhausted, or dry today? Look to God and ask Him to breathe life into your dry bones. His breath and life are your greatest need; beg him for that Spirit today.