Parenting Points
We live in a world surrounded by death – dead dreams, dying relationships, and brokenness. Many times, we may feel like the prophet Ezekiel standing in a valley of dead bones. Surrounded by a slain army, the Lord asked Ezekiel a seemingly impossible question: “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3) God goes on to bring life and breath into these bones raising up an army before the prophet’s eyes. The answer to whether life can exist in a place of death is found in the power of a God who brings dead things to life.
As people who follow a resurrected Jesus, we know resurrection from death is the heart of the story. We have hope because Jesus defeated death and can bring life. Through His Holy Spirit, He can breathe breath on us, our struggles, and those around us. Jesus is a God who breathes the breath of life, yet often, we prefer the stench of death to the breath of life. Our conversations often reek of death – tearing down others, putting the spotlight on other’s failures, and focusing on the death around us. The culture you choose to build in your home will be the approach your kids live in everyday life. Is your home a culture with a fragrance of death or of life?
3 Ways to Build a Home with the Smell of Life:
1. Approach Dead Bones with Prayer Knowing the Holy Spirit Is the Source of Life. In response to God’s question, Ezekiel points back to God as the source of life and the source of the answer by saying “O Lord God, you know” (Ezekiel 37:3). By seeking God in prayer, we are turning to the only source of true life.
2. Shine the Spotlight on Life. Throughout Ezekiel 37, the prophet does not constantly draw attention to the death and darkness surrounding him. He speaks of the life coming together. Where do we shine the spotlight in our homes?
3. Speak Life in Places of Death. Ezekiel constantly speaks the words of life God gave him to the bones of death. Ezekiel was in tune with the words from God in order to speak faithfully for God. Are we in tune to the Word of God to remind us how to speak of life into the death surrounding us?
-Dr. Ben Birdsong
Missions Minister at Christ Church Birmingham
Writer and Speaker
