I see y’all with your resolutions and your One Word declarations. I read about your plans for Scripture memorization and blessing counting and, to be honest, I feel like a bad Christian. In this season with all of its freshness and new beginnings, I’m just feeling a little dry. 
So, I begin at the beginning and I remember. We were only dust, dry and frail, before God breathed.
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. – Genesis 2:7
That was the beginning of life. We were physically formed, but we were breathed into existence. Here I sit, feeling like life has sucked the breath right out of me, and I want it back. I don’t want dry bones. I want God breath. But, how?
How does one go about recreating the Garden of Eden? How is it possible to go back to the place where God filled a person with his holy breath? Then, I see it.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. – Ezekiel 37:4-5
There, in the valley of dry bones, the word of the Lord brought with it the very breath of God. And the breath of God brought those dry bones back to life. It was the Garden of Eden all over again. New life. New breath.
The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life. – Job 33:4
No weight loss or diet resolution can bring dry bones to life. No commitment to being better organized can ever breathe life back into us. Only God has the life restoring, spirit refreshing, body energizing kind of breath. So, how do we get it?
All Scripture is God-breathed… – 2 Timothy 3:16
Just open the pages and take a deep breath. If you read through the Bible in a year – great. If you memorize a verse a week – fabulous. Those things will be icing on the cake and icing, my friends, is a really good thing. 🙂 But, if you feel like you are just a bunch of dry bones walking around, I would encourage you to just open the pages of Scripture and allow God to breathe life back into you. It is what he has done from the very beginning.
Just breathe.
That seems like a good resolution for 2014.
Y’all are loved and adored.
This is exactly my desire for 2014. I just want God to breathe new life in me & rekindle the fire that has slowly burned out after marriage & having kids. I’m rereading the Solo devotional book by Eugene Peterson & day 1 started with sin entering the Garden of Eden. I noticed something new that I hadn’t noticed before…somehow, someway Eve seemed to let discontentment enter in. She wanted more than the perfect life God had given her. She let Satan’s lies seep into her mind & allowed herself to believe that her life would be better if she ate the fruit & could know more. In a way this made me feel a little better about myself. I look at what other people have & think I need that. I’m rarely content with what I have. But God still loved Eve even though she was discontent & sinned. He punished them but he did it out of love for them. And God still loves me even though I’ve let discontentment & life in general get in the way of my relationship with God. I’m praying to renew my relationship with God & live out my faith more in this new year.
Thanks for this post. Love you friend!
“She wanted more than the perfect life God had given her.” Get off of my toes, please! 🙂
I know exactly what you mean!
I love Eugene Peterson but have never heard of that devotional. Will have to check it out! If you’ve never read his book, Eat This Book, it is fabulous, too.
Love you.
We have 2 copies of the Solo devotional. If you want to borrow the other one you are more than welcome to it.
This spoke deeply to me. It really hasn’t even felt like a “New Year” to me. I keep saying it, but it feels like the same old year too me. I feel tired and worn down and needing a surge of new energy. I pray the Lord will renew my spirit and draw me closer to Him this year. Thank you for the reminder that I am not the only one too tired for resolutions!
You are certainly not alone, my friend. Praying you find rest and refreshment in this new year!