I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. (Ezek. 37:8)
RANDY LED OUR HIGH SCHOOL cross-country team in more ways than one. He was the driving force behind the team’s formation in the first place. He recruited the rest of us to run. He even talked our shop teacher into becoming the team’s coach. And in the first year, Randy was the only one of us with any chance to place at any meet. At the conference meet that year, Randy was running in third place. He was in perfect position to pass the runners ahead of him as they crested the hill toward the final sprint. Then, inexplicably, Randy fell about a hundred yards from the finish line. He finished the race in ninth place. When one of our teammates tried to console him with the fact that he’d almost made the medals platform, Randy replied, “Almost? Almost isn’t enough!”
Ezekiel noticed that “almost” wouldn’t be enough for Israel to be restored. Although all the physical details of bones, sinews, and skin were coming together on the dry bones around him, Ezekiel understood that the very breath of God was essential for Israel to truly come back to life.
Almost is not enough in the work God does among His people. We need to invite His breath of life to engage us, and revive us completely.
Invite God to breathe life into your heart today.
Steve Wamberg is a husband, dad, writer, and pastor who loves preaching, teaching, music, coffee, and Nebraska football.
© 2017 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
