Come to Life
God on Monday
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‘O dry bones…I will lay sinews on you and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord’
(Ezekiel 37:4,6)
Reflection
Augh, it is Monday again; back to work (unless we have been working over the weekend), and back to the frustrations and troubles of this world. Our inward or outward groans may not form proper words. But they make sense, given that all human life involves struggle, decay and death.
Being a Christian should make a difference in how we live, work and respond to the world around us. However, from a professional perspective, I can assure you that dead bodies (let alone dry bones) do not come back to life!
Yet Ezekiel’s vision and fulfilled prophecy in the valley of dry bones shows us the power of the Spirit of God. Although it relates, in the first instance, to the people of Israel, it depicts how the same Spirit miraculously brings us from death to life through the same Spirit we celebrate at Pentecost.
Jesus came that we may have life in its fullness, and sent the Holy Spirit to guide, comfort, and advocate for us (John 14-16). We may be wasting away outwardly but we have hope, for we are being inwardly renewed day by day.
Today, therefore, we can decide either to grumble or to ask the Spirit of God to make us shine like stars in the universe and abound in the fruit of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Phil 2; Gal 5).
As we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, come more fully to life, may this demonstrate to those around us how the Spirit may do the same for them.
Response
Consider what work-related grumbles you need the Spirit of God to help you with today. How will you exhibit the Spirit’s fruit today? Who do you want to see made alive in Christ through the Spirit?
Prayer
‘Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love the way you love and do what you would do’ (Edwin Hatch, 1878).
This Week's Author
Rachel Owusu-Ankomah, Head of Student Ministries at the Christian Medical Fellowship and a junior doctor in surgery, in London.
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God on Monday is produced in partnership with the Church of England. The reflections are based on the scriptural readings designated for the next Sunday in the Church's lectionary. You can sign up here to receive each God on Monday instalment.
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