The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 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.'”

Devotion based on Ezekiel 37:1-6

Have you ever gone into a natural history museum that had bones of dinosaurs, birds, and other creatures displayed? As you look at these bones, your mind may start to put flesh on them, give them a personality and imagine what it would have been like to see these bones covered by flesh and alive. But, of course, you know this can’t happen.

As the prophet Ezekiel stared at a valley of human bones in a vision God gave him, The LORD asked him, “Son of man can these bones live?” The natural response would have been, “No way!” However, Ezekiel said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Ezekiel knew that he could not do something so miraculous, but the true God could. And he did. God gave Ezekiel the words to speak, and life came into the bones.

Ezekiel’s vision was a picture of what God can do for spiritually dead people, people like you and I were by birth. We had no spiritual life. But, through his promise of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus, God creates faith in our hearts to believe what he has promised. And, just like that, we are spiritually alive.

Be thankful today that yours is a God who can make the dead live!

Prayer: