We who have submitted our lives to the pursuit of righteousness, to seeking first His kingdom must be prepared for disappointment. We must be ready to see our efforts occasionally yield only marginal results, or worse, have our blessings return only curse. We must understand that the dying to self is a true dying.
All too often we are disappointed that we are not where God desires us to be, what God desires us to be, or whom He desires us to be. This is because holiness seems so elusive, always hiding from our seeking eyes. It has slipped through my seemingly greased hands on too many occasions. My one assurance is that He calls things that are not as though they were.
I am more than bones, but just barely. I have life but my constant failures prove that I am not yet filled with life. I am as yet, merely dead man’s bones, walking and trying to stand.
So He asks me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I answer, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
I may wear these dirty grave cloths you see but beneath my rags are princely garments. I may sleep in a tomb but I hear Him calling me—loving me towards perfection. How long I have been dead I do not know but I hear His voice and my souls rises. A voice cries out,
“Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!”
Often I do not recognize His call. Often I assume His words are meant for another but when I look over my shoulder I am alone. Could He be calling Me? Could he be calling undeserving, continually sinning, brashly disobedient me? Yes! He means me and He means you. His tender words, His gentle words, His loving look and welcoming tone, are for us—His children.
It seems the more I sin the more urgent and tender His call becomes. It seems as though my increase of sin was met by an increase in His grace. Though I disgust some He seems not above reaching out and touching my leprous heart, not above running to embrace and kiss me. I hear Him say, “Come to me, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
I am horribly aware of my lack, of what I am not, but I am becoming acutely sensitive to His call. I hear His tender words of grace that speak not of what I was or from whence I came but of who I AM in Christ.
To whom shall I listen? Shall I turn back to the voices that haunt me, that accuse me, or shall I run to the one who calls so fondly. If you are like me this is all very difficult when our bones have been wearied by the journey. So this is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones:
“I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.”
So breathe, Lord, that I may walk on and never look back. Breathe, Lord, that I might live.
Ez. 37, Mat 11:28
Copyright(C) 2009 Hudson Russell Davis