"Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord."
Ezekiel 37:11-14
I read these verses as part of preparing my primary lesson for today, and not only was the whole bones-becoming-an-army thing a big hit with the kids, I really liked the message of hope behind what is happening in this story.
The people here were physically just dried bones, thinking that hope was lost and that everything was just way too late... what they wanted and hoped for was just impossible now, and it is time to just give up and accept the dust and death that was their future. But God showed them, and through his prophet, everyone, that hope doesn't reach its limit at death, and that he could fulfil his promises to them in a way they hadn't considered. And God can do that for all of us. He will raise us up and give us new life, and he will make *everything* right. Chances and blessings that we missed out on, who can tell? God knows, and he is everything we can possibly hope for because he can raise us from the dead and grant us eternal life and hope in eternity.
Today, let's remember not to give up or stop trying because we don't think that what we are working for is possible. Everything good is still there, with God, and because of Christ, death is no limitation. There are scriptures about using our lifetimes wisely to prepare to meet God, and we definitely should... but let's also remember that our lifetimes may be continued in the Millenium, and that God means to restore what was lost and bring us to perfect peace and happiness. In him, there is always hope.
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