As we come to October, I think about the verses in Ezekiel 37 where God tells him to go to the valley of dry bones left from a battle. When he gets there he finds that they are completely dry and bleached by the sun. Then God asks the question, “Can these bones live again?” Or, can they become people again is another way to look at it. Ezekiel does the wise thing and says, "You alone know the answer to that Lord." Then he speaks to the bones at the Lord’s command, they come together, and they are covered with muscle and skin and God breathes into the bodies and they come alive. (Ezekiel 37 1-10)
That seems to go along with a song that we used to sing as kids around Halloween about the foot bone being connected to the ankle bone and so on, right up the body to the head bone. Now I don't celebrate Halloween, but I still think about these things around this time of year because they are etched into my mind by cartoons I saw as a kid. Now I think about the bones from Ezekiel and their coming together.
We know from the following verses (Ezekiel 37 11-14) that this has to do with the nation of Israel. It is about their coming back from the grave of the nations that they were sent to so long ago. This is the fulfillment of a prophecy in our own life time. That in itself is an encouragement to us that God is still working today on the front page of our newspapers and in the evening news.
However, more than all this, I think of all the dry times that I have in my life when it seems that I'm down and there is no one to bring me up. Like the bones, I am very dry. Yet when I read the Word of God it puts me back together again. Slowly, one piece at a time, into all the right spots. The foot goes to the ankle not the neck or backbone. The Word of God has for me what I need that day and time. And when I read it the next time, even the same passage it seems to speak to me anew and I get something completely different—what I need that time. This gives me strength like the muscles to going on, then comes the breath of God that energizes me like that little bunny. I get right back into the game of life fully charged.
