By Alex Watt.....
“Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ So 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, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.” Ezekiel 4:1-10
As we enter into this first week of Advent, we reflect on what it means to have hope.
Hope is having faith and confidence that the Lord God will do what He says He will do because He is who He says He is. This season of Advent is a reminder not only to celebrate the first coming of Jesus, but also to hope for His second coming. Not because we have no merit for this hope, but because God has told us that it will happen.
You see, you and I, we are nothing but dry bones. We are these finite beings that are only here for a short while, and when our time comes, bones will be what is left of us.
But there will come a time when the Lord calls out to our dry bones and renews us, not only physically but spiritually, when we are cleansed of all sin we have carried and wrestled with here on earth. He will breathe a new breath into us, and we will experience a new heaven and new Earth – like something we cannot imagine or describe.
In our waiting and hoping for this second coming, let us also call out to those who are now dry bones, who have not experienced God's goodness and faithfulness. We do not have to sit and wait for Heaven – Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom HAS come. It is here. So let us prophesy to the dry bones now, so that when the second coming we hope for happens, we will be a great army for the Lord.
The world will tell you that hope is silly – yet we hope for things we have no control over and are inconsistent – we hope for rain, a good bonus, or better health. Why would we not put our hope into the One who has not changed since the beginning? For He does what He says He will do, and He is who He says He is.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we ask that during this Advent season, you would renew our hope. That we would become more confident in who You are and what You have told us of what will come. Lord, help us minister to the dry bones around us and help us walk the narrow path better every day. Help us spend this week reflecting on the hope we have in You and what You would ask us to do during our hoping and waiting. Lord, we love You, and we give You all the praise and glory. In your Son, Jesus’ name, amen.
