I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled a good bit overseas over the course of my life. One of my favorite places to visit has been Western Europe-really anywhere from Spain and Portugal all the way over to Germany. All of these places have one thing in common-they have mastered the art of preservation and restoration. There are structures there that have been preserved and/or restored that date back well over a thousand years. Culturally they put a great deal of emphasis on preserving history through these ancient structures. I’m sure this takes a great deal of work and money but it’s what is important to the people there-so they do it.

In Ezekiel chapter 37 we find one of the most well known prophecies in the Bible-the valley of dry bones. God instructed Ezekiel to prophesy over the dry bones (symbolic of the nation of Israel) and instruct them to come back to life. This was a symbol of what God was to do to restore the relationship between himself and his people. Ezekiel 37:13-14 says, “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it; declares the Lord.”

God is the greatest restoration expert we know and his promise stands to this very day. It is a promise of restoration. He promised to give life to his people. He promised his spirit would be placed within his people. Just as I enjoy the restoration work of people in Western Europe I even more so enjoy the work that was done to restore our relationship to God through Jesus. A work that will stand the test of time and one I should be appreciative of and thankful for each and every day!