It is the greatest miracle of all. The Bible records many wondrous works done by God. He parted the Red Sea and stopped the flow of the Jordan. He made the walls of Jericho come tumbling down and sent fire down on Elijah's sacrifice. Jesus walked on water, fed the crowds, made the lame walk and the blind see. But there is one miracle that is greater than all others. It was the miracle that God performed on Jesus early on the morning of the first day of the week, raising him from the dead.
It is that kind of miracle that Ezekiel speaks of in chapter 37 of his prophecy, the vision of the dry bones. He saw a valley of nothing but dry bones - death and decay had done its complete job. This was not a sickness, it was death. A doctor can treat sick people, but there is nothing can be done for dry bones. But God can do the impossible - he can raise the dead.
This prophecy is a vision of the resurrection of a nation. God has destroyed Israel because of their sin. The nation lies in ruins, the people are in exile and the future looks bleak. There is little hope in any human effort or ability for the nation in its condition. But that did not stop what God intended to do. He would sweep through the dry bones in power, they would shudder to life and form sinews and tissues. God would do what no one else could do.
It is the same thing that he did in my life. I was, according to Ephesians 2:1, dead in my sins, without any hope of fixing the problem on my own. My soul was a valley of dry bones - nothing but death. Hopeless death. But God did not leave me in that condition. He worked a miracle - his greatest. As he had raised his Son from the dead, he also raised me to new life and gave me eternal hope.
I have eternal life and hope today because God works miracles, because he raises the dead, because he took "dem dry bones" in my soul and knit them together in new life.
Thank you, Father, for the life I have because of you, and you alone.
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