Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Hello, dear people.

Whew! Lots of driving today. With Katherine and Joe here from Missouri, we all visited a church in the Clatskanie area pastored by one of Joe’s old friends. After a lunch together there, we hurried back in constant rain to our Gospel Sing session at Pheasant Pointe in Molalla…arriving about a half hour late. But we had a good time of it.

The intensity of things going on around here have prevented a couple days of devotionals lately. I sometimes run out of time and energy.

Lots more rain and wind out there. I hope those trees remain upright.

Be Blessed. Love, Dad/Ray.

Talk about a dead church! Ezekiel was called to preach there. Who else would have bothered than one in close relationship with the Sovereign LORD?—one who knew that “The hand of the LORD was upon me”? It was a setting of absolute death and hopelessness. On second thought, no it wasn’t! Because the One commissioning Ezekiel was the One Who formed bone in the first place, tailored tendons, fashioned flesh, “and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). The message to this mass of dead dry bones was short and began with a simple command—“Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!” (37:4) And they did! The response was as spectacular as it gets. Talk about an altar call! Do you really want to tell me about how impossible and hopeless your situation is?

Agreed. This was a vision—like an animated movie. But, like one of Jesus’ parables, it was presenting known natural realities to represent spiritual and supernatural realities—with the Sovereign LORD presiding over them both. Indeed, the gathering of Jews from all parts of the world, after so many years of exile and non-existence as a nation is nothing short of miraculous. That, of course, is the primary meaning of the vision. But there’s still more to it. The bottom-line lesson is as spectacular and all-encompassing as the vision is revolutionary: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS HOPELESS WHEN DOING LIFE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SOVEREIGN LORD—as long as one does not pre-determine what the outcome must be. Real HOPELESSNESS is trying to do life successfully without Him. Let’s turn in our hymnals to “TRUST AND OBEY.”

This line of reasoning melts me. How can anyone accept their own composition of bone, tendon, flesh, and breath, and fail to conclude that HE IS THE LORD?!? I repeat—DIRT COULD NOT THINK THIS UP! That notion is both perverse and absurd to think that it could!—that by total accident mindless matter figured out how to generate bone tissue, tendon tissue, muscle tissue, blood tissue, blood pump, brain cells, nerve paths, cognitive functions of thought, emotions, and memory, and on and on we could go describing the miraculous orchestration of organs and systems that allow us to become living organisms! Don’t you agree?—our very existence should inspire humility within us, not arrogance. It should cause us to KNOW THAT HE IS THE LORD in no uncertain terms. Is there any single TRUTH more important to know?