Scripture: Ezekiel 37:2-3
"He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?'"
Observation:
Ezekiel is taking a break from proclaiming death and destruction for a few lines so that he can hear and tell about the hope that is coming through new life.
Application:
I confess, this is my favorite chapter in Ezekiel. The visions and stuff from earlier in the book are kind of cool...different at least...but this I like. I mean, really like.
I've preached this one before in front of congregations that were looking for new life, or that I hoped were looking for new life, in an attempt to remind them that even in the midst of apparent death, new life can spring forth.
Today, that's not what it said to me. Today, this one got a little personal and I didn't like it.
As I read these verses this morning, the dry bones that Ezekiel was prophesying to were my own. I'm tired. The last couple weeks have been pure hell, and my bones are dry. I, like many of my clergy colleagues, desperately need the breath of God to blow on me again.
It's so easy to get caught up in my calendar, or my to-do list, running from one meeting to another, or one task to the next. It's easy to do those things and feel good about it because in our culture busy = successful. When I allow that to happen, though, I forget that without the breath of God on me, I'm nothing but dry bones.
Prayer:
Breathe on me, breath of God. Once again this morning, I offer you my schedule and my to-do list. Remind me that those are things I do and not who I am. Who I am, is a child of the king, created not to live life rushed, stressed, or burnt out, but to live the life of abundance you came to give. Call me to renewal and rest so that the work you have given me is done out of joy and not simply out of duty. Amen.
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