CAN THESE BONES LIVE?

[Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi]

Dearly Beloved,

CAN THESE BONES LIVE?

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, you alone know’” (Ezekiel 37:1-3 NIV).

I am not happy with the level of corruption in my country, Nigeria. Corruption has eating deep into the fibre of every place from the highest level in the corridors of power in the country to the lowest level one can think of. Even, our religious (and especially Christian) settings are not left out of this moral decadence. I have been thinking if there would be any remedy from this situation. Will Nigeria ever be corruption free again?

As I ruminated on this, the vision of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37 came to my mind and specifically, the question of the Sovereign Lord: “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel could not answer the question, but the Lord asked him to command the dry bones to come back to life. After the dry bones had come back to life at Ezekiel’s command, the Lord gave the meaning of the vision: the dry bones were the whole house of Israel who thought that “[their] bones are dried up and [their] hope is gone” (verse 11 NIV). The Lord then asked Ezekiel to prophesy to the people that He (God) would open their graves and bring them up from their scattered places; that He would bring them back to the land of Israel. After these, the people of Israel would know that He is the Lord, when He opens their graves and brings them up from the far places. He also promised to put His Spirit in them and that they would live (see verses 12-14).

In spite of the level of corruption in Nigeria, I believe that Nigeria will be free of corruption one day. Only, I cannot say how soon this will be. However, what role am I playing to make this come to reality sooner? What roles are you playing to make Nigeria corruption free? For non-Nigerians, what roles are you playing to make your society corruption free? The bones of uprightness can live again wherever you find yourself by contributing your own positive quota towards it. Shun corruption in any form!

In His service,

Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).

Prayer Point: Pray that the Sovereign Lord will break every yoke of corruption in your life and society.