SUBMERGEഉദാഹരണം

A Controlled Burn

Sometimes we just have these amazing encounters with God. God’s Spirit shows up and takes the dead and dry things in our lives and ignites them. We leave those moments inspired to live our lives for Jesus. These are important moments in our spiritual journeys.

In the Scripture today, Ezekiel has one of these experiences. He has a vision of what God will do for Israel. God had made a covenant with the Jewish people. On a mountain in the Middle East, God made a covenant with the people (through Abraham and his descendants) that He would be faithful to them. He desired true intimacy with his creation. And so things were going well, but the Jews were fickle just like any other group of people. There were times of faithfulness when all was going well and times when they were so unfaithful that God, through his prophets, compared the Jewish people to prostitutes because they kept running after other lovers. This was happening when Ezekiel, the prophet, entered the scene. The Jewish people had become complacent. They had stopped seeking intimate encounters with God. They began to use worship for profit. They were drying up inside.

Maybe you have had those times in your own life when you felt dry and even dead inside. You needed God to do something new. Certainly, once you come down from the mountaintop, you might even feel this kind of emptiness again.

In 587 BC, a huge conquering force of warriors (Babylonians) destroyed the Israeli army, decimated and destroyed the temple, and took the remaining Jews with them to a foreign land. It was devastating. God's chosen people were now split up and sent away, and everything they once were was beginning to slip away. But amid these difficult times, God promises renewal through His Spirit.

The vision of the Dry Bones being filled again with God’s spirit and brought back to life is a great metaphor for what many of you might feel after having such an incredible, overflowing experience with God. But what we need is “to be settled in our own land.” We can’t live on a mountaintop. We need God’s Spirit to just be present in our everyday lives.

Power, Energy can be either unleashed or harnessed. For instance, the energy in ten gallons of gasoline can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can. Or it can be channeled through the engine of a Toyota in a controlled burn, and as long as the accelerator doesn’t stick, it can be used to transport a person 350 miles. Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have a lasting effect, staying power.

So, let God’s power bring you back to life but let it sustain you for the rest of your life. Don’t just allow the moment to be an “explosion” in your life. Make sure it’s a controlled burn!

Reflection:

What do you think are some ways you can have a “controlled burn” for Christ? Rather than simply an explosion?

Dr. Blair Spindle
SNU Campus Pastor