"Son of man, can these bones live?" -Ezekiel 37:3

Skeletons have always creeped me out a little. I never liked clothing with skulls on it or jewelry that referenced bones. I always thought those things were weird and a bit demented. I still do, but you might be surprised that one of my current-over-the-top-repeated-song on my itunes right now is called "Skeleton Bones."

It's not about cross bones, though.

Have you ever read the story of Ezekiel and the dry bones in the Bible? When I was little, I fell asleep listening to Bible stories on a cassette tape. Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones was one of my favorite stories on the tapes. I would lie in bed and listen to the retelling of Ezekiel standing in a valley of bones. A dessert of death. Then he witnessed the bones become layered in muscle and tissue and tendons and skin. Ezekiel heard God breathe into the forms to make them human. I could recite back to you exactly what happened in the story (as well as almost any story in the Bible thanks to the tapes!), but I didn't really realize what it meant. I was just a child.

I have come to learn (and continue to learn) just how much I've lost my child like faith. I've become a thinker. Ideas need to make sense to me. I reason my way out of believing for the sake of believing. The thing is, the gospel and God's way of doing things just doesn't make sense to my earthly mind. This story -even though I loved it-never really made sense to me until now.

I was but a skeleton - nothing but dry bones left in a valley. That is until God decided to come to my skeleton and say, "I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am Lord." (Ezk. 37:6) It amazes me. I used to be that thing that I find so creepy, but by the love of God, I get to have life. A life that I don't deserve. A life that I wouldn't have unless God had made the choice to put His Spirit in me, so I could live. Just something I've been pondering lately.

Here's the song if you want to hear it.

:j