An offering of the RunninRev in the Active Faith Podcast
Check out every Monday for a short devotion/meditation podcast focusing on scripture and self-care.
This week: I reflect on Ezekiel 37:1-14, the restoring of the dry bones, and our own restoration. Continuing the theme of self-worth, and where we place our self-worth, let us look towards God.
Meditation Transcript
37 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”
Restoring The Image
I have been talking about our inherent self-worth at the center of the created order. We acknowledge our ability to care for ourselves begins with a basic understanding of self-worth. And yet, we often fall short of viewing this inherent understanding.
Though it is not our fault most times. Our lack of worth stems from being told we are less than, that we do not deserve, and that our humanity inherently makes us evil or sinful.
However, what if we flip this perspective on its head?
What if instead of viewing our human nature as something to be ashamed of, we viewed it as something that God is working within?
What if like the dead bones in Ezekiel, we have been beaten down by a world that has called us evil, sinful, or abominations? We have been tossed out of the city, left to our demise.
What if we have a chance to be given life through God and not through the world?
Many times when we look at this passage we see the speaking into existence of a resurrected state that will be claimed in eternal glory. However, what if we read into it a resurrection of the spirit and body right now?
Have we so distorted the image of God as a human race that we have shriveled up like the dry bones before Ezekiel?
The dry bones become the state of care we have given ourselves, and the restoration, offered through Ezekiel’s prophesy becomes the healing nature we can receive when we reconnect with the inherent grace found within creation.
Life is spoken into the dry bones when the nature of God becomes real within us. We rebuild ourselves, bit by bit, and restore not only the body but the mind and the soul as well.
Here the voice of the prophets speaking on behalf of the Lord!
Allow your soul to be restored. Meditate through the bones, through the muscles, through the skin, and through the breath. Feel the presence of God moving through you, and know the Lord is working in your soul.
As God moves through you reconnect with the inherent worth found in God’s image. Find your form in God. Find your form in the Kin-dom.
Hear the words of the Lord:
“I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.” — Ezekiel 37:14
If our worth is in creation then who can take it away from us? When we are withered by life and our strength feels gone, let us reconnect with the promise of God to restore our souls.
How is God reworking in you restoring what the world has torn down?
AMEN! And Be Blessed!!!
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