Ezekiel 37:3-6 says...

Today's verses are Ezekiel 37:3-6 which reads,

3 He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"  And I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know."
  
4 Again 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 that you may come to life.

 
6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breathe in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'"

  
"These bones, these bones, these dry bones..."  I think that was a song from college choir, an old spiritual.  God is so great to bring up visual after visual to convey the message one more time to the people of Israel and to us.

This passage is about the prophet Ezekiel having a vision about the spiritual dryness of the nation of Israel but I think it can apply to the church today and also to us individually.  We all have had seasons of dryness in our spiritual lives.  We are in a slump or the motivation or the right spirit is not present.  We are going through the motions out of duty or knowing it is the right thing to do but our heart is not in it.  This can happen to a church too.  Many have described churches as "dead" or "lifeless."  Dry bones.

The key to the passage is what and Who brings them out of the dryness.  The "what" is the word of the Lord.  If we are to get out of that spiritual dry place, the Bible is key.  And maybe it is something you hear from someone but the content is what is found in the Word of God.  It's instructions and promises and commandments and comforts are crucial by God's words to see life come back into those spiritually dry bones.

Also is the agent of Who is going to be doing this.  God is the one who gives the breath and the sinews (nerves, tendons) and the flesh and skin.  His interest is not to just give you a shot in the arm to help you along but to start from ground up and rebuild your spiritual life in Him. 
 And the whole purpose of this process is that you will know that He is God (Yehovah = the existing one).  Know today that if you are in a dry patch that God is telling you how to get out of it and that He will recreate what you feel that you have lost. 

One last thought:  God is pronouncing this to the nation of Israel so I am assuming He can also handle a dry church.  It is not going to be turned around with a bunch of new methods or cool things that the world does.  Some may be incorporated in appropriate ways into the church culture but the turn around happens when the Word of God is taken seriously and our acknowledgement of Him who gets all the glory is very high.


Pastor Adam

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