Valley of Dry Bones

"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.""
Ezekiel 37:4-6

the prophet Ezekiel lived a completely submitted life before God. He was used to speak the words of God to the people of Israel. Ezekiel testified that God brought him out to stand in the middle of a valley full of dry bones. God asked him a question: "Son of man, can these bones live?" (Ezekiel 37:3). Ezekiel did not have the answer, in fact he said that only God could know. But even though he did not know the answer to the question, God used him to speak to the dry bones. As he spoke to them, everything that God said would happen, did.They came to life and joined together. Tendons did come upon them and flesh did indeed cover them. Finally, breath came to them and the word of the Lord was fulfilled.
    As is always true of Old Testament prophecies, there is an application for that day and an application for us today. This was a spiritual event. God showed this to Ezekiel so that he would understand the condition of Israel. I think for us, there is a great application as well.
    There are many Christians who have been damaged. Some of them because of their own sin, others because they were hurt by other Christians, and some because they were heart by the church. There is figuratively, a valley consisting of brothers and sisters who have become dry bones before God. You may have encountered some of them. They may call themselves 'atheists' or 'agnostics.' They may say, "I will never enter a church again." They may avoid any contact with Christians and even be hostile toward them. Still other people have never come to a relationship with God. It is foreign to them and they want no part of "religion." You may feel like there is little help for these people. They have made decisions that have alienated them from God. They have forsaken God's salvation to live another life.  But even though they may seem far away from him, they are not beyond his grace and power.
    God desires to gather up these dry bones and create new people out of them. He longs for them to be restored to relationship with him. God is strong enough to give them spiritual muscle and flesh and breath. He is more than enough to fill all their needs. You see, each one of us were also like those who are dry bones. Yet, God reached into the valley, brought our lifeless bones together and created a new person to live in love with him. And just as was the case when he brought Ezekiel to the valley, he used someone to speak that life into our dry bones. Someone spoke the word of the Lord to us and his power was released. He will do the same for others.
    Be like Ezekiel. Speak the word of the Lord into the valley of dry bones. You can do this through prayer and you can do it by speaking to those who are hurting. God never gives up on the dry bones, neither should we. No matter how far away from God they seem to be, there is not one who is beyond the redemption of our Lord and Savior. Allow God to use you. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you. He will use you to speak and just like Ezekiel, you will see the dry bones come to life. It is a magnificent thought, isn't it? It will become a magnificent reality!