The Ultimate Repurpose: Ezekial and the Dry Bones



    Today's art is the traditional Navajo bone choker. As the name suggests, the beads in the choker are made from animal bones. Traditionally a master artisan would go out into nature and find the dry bones of an animal, especially those of a bird. Then he or she would shape those bones into beads, often dyeing them with plants. In our case, an unknown artisan probably harvested dry bones to make the beautiful choker you see today. It is an exquisite piece of art that reminds me of the spiritual realities that pervade my existence. Every time I wear it, I am reminded of when God remade something out of dry bones.

    In Ezekial 37, God brings Ezekial into a valley of bones. These are the bones of long gone. They are dry without any flesh. Something catastrophic has happened; a battle has brought death, dying, and destruction. Whatever the case of the end, the death of a nation occurs. Enter God, the dramatic master artist. He tells Ezekial to speak to the bones to rise again. They grow and become covered with flesh but aren't living until God puts his Spirit in them. Then they live again.

    There are moments when each one of us feels dry and dead. Perhaps we don't have the closeness to God that we once did. Maybe we never had a relationship with God, to begin with. In any case, we are dry. We can pause here and ask the Holy Spirit to return to our hearts and lives. He will allow us to live again, but we must be prepared to leave the past behind. We must go our old lives and our old purposes for living to move into the new life of the Spirit.  

    Like the artisan of today, who takes bone and fashions it into something new, God refashions our lives. He gives us new life and meaning as he breathes life into our dead bones and dry spiritual lives. In our history, there was death, dying, and destruction, but now God is doing something that the human artisan cannot: to bring us eternal life.



See the accompanying devotional video at https://www.facebook.com/638137947/videos/725408849224713/

Blessings in Christ,

Jane Shoemaker



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