The Spirit of the Lord carried me to a valley filled with dried bones. The bones were completely dry, scattered everywhere along the ground. Then the Spirit of the Lord asked: “Ezekiel, can these dry bones live?”
“O Sovereign Lord, God” I replied, “only you know the answer.”
Then the Spirit of the Lord said: “Speak to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! The Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you, and put breath into you, and you will be revived. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Ezekiel 37:1-6
Notes for Contemplation as You Use this Devotional:
- This passage from the Prophet Ezekiel is usually titled “The Valley of Dry Bones,” though a modernized title, “Dry Bones Live Again,” can focus our attention on renewal and revival.
- As a prophet, Ezekiel was a visionary who could sound unconventional.
- Our willingness to move beyond the same-old-same-old, conventional being and doing is exactly what can revive our lives.
- With faith, we can envision and imagine how transformation might look. Then, we can begin shifting our consciousness, even though we do not yet know that exact outcome. And, when things seem uncertain, we can remember: It is not our job to know how everything in the universe will unfold. That is God’s job.
- Minister and Master Teacher Emmet Fox says: “Life is a state of consciousness. You are and you have and you do in accordance with your consciousness. . . . The only fundamental way to change things is to change your consciousness.”
Contemplation Questions:
Ask yourself:
- What in my life now is like a valley of dry bones?
- List, word map, or illustrate anything which applies.
- When I consider all my “dry bones”:
- What needs to be released and buried?
- List, word map, or illustrate which they are.
- Then give thanks for the blessing they were, however great or small, when they served you well. This way you can appreciate things as they were and being to shift your consciousness.
- What needs to be released and buried?
- What needs the breath of new life?
- List, word map, or illustrate which they are.
- Then, begin prioritizing them from the smallest to the largest. That way you can feel momentum in little victories.
- When I think about my own breath, the Spirit of the Lord, the breath of God within me:
- Am I aware of my breathing?
- Do I hold my breath?
- Do I huff and puff?
- Do I feel short of breath, out of breath, or suffocated?
- What particular breathing practices, if any, do I use to stay grounded and energized?
- When I consider that my breath is my divine life energy, the Spirit of the Lord, God within me, how do I feel?
- List, word map, or illustrate your feelings.
- How am I using my divine life energy? What drains me? What energizes me?
- Without judgment or analysis, list, word map, or illustrate, with a category for “draining” and another for “energizing,” all the ways you currently use your energy.
- What are at least three (3) things I am willing to do to shift my consciousness so I am using my divine life energy, the Spirit of the Lord, God within me, in the best ways for me now.
- List, word map, or illustrate all the steps you can imagine.
Take as much as you need with this devotional. As you continually reflect on God as the divine creative power which gives you and all things life, you can more easily discern what needs to be released and what needs to be revived. Know that as you have faith in God and the divine life energy within you, you can keep both your mind and heart open to wherever your next steps lead. Also, trust that as you begin the transformations, however small, your divinity, like Ezekiel’s, is God’s breath of life, God’s Spirit, expressing in you, expressing as you.
© 2021 – Rev. Jennifer L. Sacks – All rights reserved.
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