Dry Bones
You are God's treasured possession, His holy people, the one He loves. He is faithful to you. Will you be faithful to Him?
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations...Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them...for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods...Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love...He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land...The Lord will keep you free from every disease...Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it"
Deuteronomy 7:1-6, 9, 11-15, 25-26
It is amazing how many times original sin is repeated. Consider how the temptations you face have ensnared your life and caused you pain when you succombed to the things the tempted your heart. We all have done what God warns the people against in this chapter. We live in a world full of temptation. Is there anything that is currently tempting you? Anywhere you feel weak when facing temptation?
God gives very explicit instructions. Don't allow your life to be connected to things or people who will lead you away from God. Why does He warn us about this? Because God sees all, knows all, and wants better for us than the pain that awaits those who give in to temptation. Think of how many marriages have failed, relationships ruined, how much shame and guilt purchased because of giving in to the weakness of temptation. God has so much better for you and for me. He wants to protect us and keep us set apart for Him alone. What advice does He give? Do not even go close to temptation, completely cut it off, kill it. Do you take that strong of a stance? Where do you need to draw a clearer line in the sand?
“In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. He says to himself, “God will never notice; he covers his face and never sees...But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed"
Psalms 10:4, 7, 11, 14, 17-18
David calls out an unspoken truth that pervades our culture. There are times where we live as though God is not present and does not see what we are doing, thinking, or saying. The word wicked is such an accurate word. Wicked comes from the idea of twisting the wick of a candle. Wicked in this sense is twisting the truth. It is not an absence of truth, rather it is trust twisted. A distorted view of things.
The enemy of your life wants nothing more than to twist the truth and get you to doubt God. It happened in the Garden of Eden and it happens every day of our lives. The enemy seeks to lie, cheat, destroy, and deceive you into thinking that one little temptation is not a big deal. One little desire won't kill you. God knows that one wrong choice leads to another and before you know it you do not remember who you are or how you got to a place where feel distant from God. How is temptation impacting your life? How are you guarding your mind and heart? What are you watching on television, what does your web browser say about what pleasures you pursue, where is the enemy trying to establish a foothold? Where have you allowed the enemy to twist the truth of God?
“My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and to insight, “You are my relative.” They will keep you from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words...Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.”
Proverbs 7:1-5, 22-25, 27
Solomon was well versed in adultery. He might have been the wisest man who ever has lived, but he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. How does one keep such a schedule of infidelity? Imagine the pain that he dealt with an inflicted on others because of the choices he made. He treated women like possessions and prizes to be one. How is that honoring the God who makes each person?
What advice does he pass along to his sons? Don't do it. It is not worth it. Avoid the ways in which temptation creeps into your life and slowly erodes that fabric of your faith. Wisdom says do not let anything turn your heart for the destination is death. The snake will tell you that surely you will not die, but the snake is a liar. If God is the source of life and sin separates; then death is separation from life. Sin kills the soul and the only remedy is the saving grace of Jesus Christ. However as the apostle Paul wrote, the grace of Christ does not give us permission to actively pursue sinful living. Rather, a heart of gratitude for the free gift of salvation should respond with devotion to Christ and a desire to free yourself from the bonds of sin. How does Solomon's advice resonate with you? Are there any areas in your life that are not devoted to God?
“The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 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?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know...I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them...breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army...This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them...I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land...There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God."
Ezekiel 37:1-14, 22-24, 26-28
God gives Ezekiel a preview of what the coming Messiah will do in our lives. He takes something that is completely dead. Dry bones in a grave. Something that should never and could never come back to life without the help of God and God brings the bones back to life. How powerful is this?
Does this not give us hope? Can we not stand on the evidence that if Jesus overcame death and God promises to put His Spirit in us so we will live? Why would we ever doubt God or choose to pursue a life apart from the one who redeems, restores, and resurrects. God gives a very clear message. He declares you are never too far gone, never too sinful, never too unworthy, never going to be in a place that I cannot restore you to right relationship with Me. Have you praised the Lord Jesus that He gives us eternal hope, not because of our perfection, but because of His faithfulness? Should we not respond to this gift with renewed dedication to serve God with all of our hearts, minds, and souls completely separating ourselves from the sin that so easily entangles?
“I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong...I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.”
2 Corinthians 12:2-5, 7-10, 20-21
Many scholars have speculated with the thorn in the flesh that Paul endured. Note that Paul does not blame God. He says that a messenger of Satan tormented him and though he pleaded for it to be gone, God allowed him to learn from the suffering that produces steadfast endurance.
What is different about how Paul responded to his struggle? Unlike many people, Paul did not turn to temporary coping mechanisms like drugs, alcohol, pleasures, or ways of escaping to ease his pain. No. Paul turned to God. He learned to give praise to God in all circumstances and delight in the very thing that was hardest for him to endure because it made Paul dependent on the strength of the Lord to carry him through each day.
Do we want to be like Paul? Would we not rather have the hard thing go away so that we could go on living the way we want, in the manner we want. God calls out our desire for comfort and has times He allows affliction. Why? Perhaps is because that is what will help us live a life dependent on Him. Perhaps there are things that are not explained on this side of heaven. It is hard to say definitively, but we can learn from Paul that in the midst of our doubts, the best thing we can do is turn to Jesus. He is our portion. He is our strength. He is our refuge. He is our Savior. He is the one who made a way for us to overcome temptation and find freedom from all that entraps us.
Tell the voice of the enemy to be quiet in Jesus name. Silence the lies and listen to the voice of truth that says that you are God's chosen. You are the beloved of God. You are set apart for a purpose and you choose to be faithful to the God who is always faithful. Take time today to give thanks to the God who bought you back, gave new life to dry bones, and wants to empower you to live a spirit led life of meaning through how you help others around you. Look out to see who else is struggling and help them connect to the God whose love overcomes even death itself. Then stand firm in the grace that you have been given and, like Paul, give thanks to the God who calls you by name.