Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Reconnection (Part 1)

Scripture: Ezekiel 36:24-31 (NLT) – “For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.  Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.  Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.  And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you.  I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.  And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.  And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago.  You will be my people, and I will be your God.  I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior.  I will give you good crops of grain, and I will send no more famines on the land.   I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines.  Then you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did.” (bolded for emphasis).

Message: It was going so well until that last verse, right?  Doesn’t it bug you and make you wonder?

I have become convinced that it is a miracle – and one of the rarest – when we can admit our sin, because our ego just does not like to admit we are wrong or have messed up.

Now, most of us will at least admit – in a general sort of way – that we sin, yet we have a hard time getting specific, don’t we?  And, for all of us, there are sins that we do not even acknowledge to ourselves.

The Ezekiel verse above immediately precedes the Valley of Dry Bones story, where God reconnects and brings all these dead bones back to life.  Just like the resurrection, God is able to reconnect us and bring us new life from the very painful and sometimes sinful experiences we have in our lives.  Yet there is a crucial step that comes before God’s reconnection – we admit our sins and ask forgiveness where we have caused pain to others and/or to God.

Prayer: Lord, show me my sin.  Where I am calling something good that You call evil – tell me.  Where I am calling something evil that You call good – show me.  Motivate me to reconnect and live differently in the resurrected Jesus.  Amen.

Jim Esch - To see 2 of 2

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