Boneyard

Reading: Ezekiel 36-37; Psalm 110; Revelation 19 4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” (Ezekiel 37:4-6 NLT) Ezekiel’s “Dry Bones” vision is such a great story! God took Ezekiel into an open plain littered with dismembered skeletons—apparently a battlefield where thousands of soldiers had fallen and been left to decay, bones scattered by buzzards and wild dogs. Skulls and ribs, arm and leg bones, hand and foot bones lay everywhere—like Legos, toys, and crayons scattered across a child’s playroom floor. God asked Ezekiel whether he thought that the bones could be re-gathered and resurrected, and then God did it! Using Ezekiel’s Spirit-empowered words, God assembled them, clothed them with muscle, sinew, and flesh, then miraculously breathed into them the breath of life! Then God explained to Ezekiel that this was a picture of God’s ability to bring fresh God-life into impossible, sin-shattered situations. I’m sitting here after reading this story, thinking about the amazing power of spoken words. Ezekiel spoke God-words, words of life, to a boneyard. He spoke words of “inspiration” to the dry bones. He spoke hopeful, helpful words that brought the breath of life into the bodies that his words had reassembled – and they came alive! Most every day I come upon a boneyard situation in someone’s life. I can walk on by, I can engage in idle small-talk, or I can ask for some God-words that will speak life and bring hope. I can reach into my heart for God-words that breathe life (inspiration, encouragement, hope, possibility) into a dark, disorganized, dead situation. I can speak the words God gives. God can use my words to put things back together and breathe life and hope into them. I can be part of God’s miracle for someone! Prayer:

Father, I desire to intentionally and faithfully use the power of words I speak to bring hope and help to the boneyards in people’s lives. I pray for myself and for my friends who are reading this—may our words be God-words that breathe the breath of life into dead and hopeless situations. May we Speak Life! Amen.