Can these bones live?
During pre-sermon prayer, Pastor Sam quoted from
Ezekiel chapter 37. In the passage, Ezekiel sees a
vision of a large valley of dry bones. The Lord takes Ezekiel through a process
of seeing the bones form into what looks like a mighty army, but the result of
the process is an army incapable of conquest. They are an impressively large
group, but they are dead. They cannot stand. They cannot fight. Is that what we look like in the eyes of God and man? Do we
gather faithfully each week with no intent of acquiring the God-life necessary
to win the battle against sin? Are we just going through the external motions of corporate worship
and ministry, with hearts fully intent on collaborating with the devil
throughout the week?
The LORD tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the breath and speak
life into the bodies. As the breath-life of God moves over the group, they are
empowered to stand in fighting formation. This is our desire! We may not yet be
ready to fight the battles through which our enemy the devil will attack. But
though we are not ready today, we continue to avail ourselves to the word of
God, prayer, and corporate worship. Our gatherings are an important component
of our preparation process. So we come together to worship the Lord, who
promises to be powerfully present when we approach Him (Matthew 18:19-20). To refuse
corporate worship is to choose to live the Christian life ill-equipped to love and
completely unprepared for spiritual war. Have we arrived? Are we perfected? No, but we are determined to stay on the
path.
“Can these bones live?” Absolutely. We obtain the power to live as we submit
ourselves to the power of the word of God.
We have gathered as a community of faith, and we need Your breath of life to infuse and empower us. Please keep speaking to our community. We promise to listen and joyfully obey Your word. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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