life

We've been studying the "Dry Bones" vision that Ezekiel had (Chapter 37).  It's a wonderful and fascinating passage where the Lord tells the prophet Ezekiel to preach to a valley full of dry bones.  They rise up and start to move around...Ezekiel keeps preaching and the bones are covered with muscle and skin.  Then the Lord tells Ezekiel to "Preach to the breath" (or to the Spirit) so that the skin-covered bodies will come to life.  This is a picture of the restoration that the Lord was promising His people, held captive  by the Babylonians.  The story has made me think about the nature of "life" itself.  I remember in 7th grade biology learning that the definition of life has something to do with the ability to move, reproduce, and process food.  The wide variety of living things certainly testifies to the creative flair of the Lord.  But I suppose there is life with a lower case "l" and Life with an upper case "L".  Spiritual life seems tightly linked with the breath of God, the Holy Spirit.  It's almost like we have been rescued from nearly drowning and the Lord HImself has breathed His life-giving air into our being.  In our makeup as creatures of flesh, bone and blood we also have the capacity for a spiritual dimension of living that goes beyond biological function.  I suppose this is what the Lord meant in the beginning: Genesis 1:^26a Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;... ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  God is Spirit and He formed us with a spiritual capacity and a spiritual nature...the essential elements of His makeup.  We spend a large amount of our energy on the physical side of our being, but we find "Life" when we allow the Lord to invest us with His energy.

 

John 14:⁶ Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

 

blessings,

Rob Smith