Oct 18

When God asked Ezekiel if the dry bones could live again, he replied, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know" (Ezek. 37:3).

Notice that Ezekiel uses the term Sovereign Lord. By doing so, he acknowledges that God has the power even to raise people back from the dead. The word sovereign implies that God can do anything, that he is in control even of life and death. But even though he is sovereign, God often chooses not to act sovereignly but to work through the lives and actions and faith of weak human beings -- even through you and me.

Then God does an amazing thing: He tells Ezekiel to do something that seems utterly ridiculous and a waste of time.

"Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!"'" (v. 4).

God calls upon Ezekiel to speak to dead people. Is there anything so ridiculous or meaningless as that? Yet that is the very thing our Lord Jesus has also called upon us to do!

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Mt. 28:19,20).

Like Ezekiel, we have been called to preach the life-giving message of salvation in Christ to those who are spiritually dead. That is our call. The question is, what will our response be? Will we give up, calling it a hopeless task? Or will we, like Ezekiel, catch the vision of God and see a future for these dead souls, born again in Christ?

Scripture for today: Ezekiel 37:1-8
Thought for today: God sees life where we see death.
Prayer for today: Lord, grant me to see the lost as you see them, as souls brought back to life in your Son.

OCT 18