Lesson 252: "Digging Up Bones"
There is an old country-western song that Randy Travis sings called “Digging up Bones”. What is happening is that a man is living in the past; resurrecting memories that are better left alone. The Apostle Paul strongly suggests that we do not do this; “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” (Phil. 3:13). He goes on to write that; “many live as enemies of the Cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction” (Phil. 3:18-19). To me, being an enemy to the Cross is to deny that Jesus Christ died for every one of every one’s sins and He took all of our hurts and pains upon His own body on the Cross. This is physical, emotional and mental anguish He dealt with and there is no need to harbor the past shame, guilt, disappointments or failures in our hearts and minds. We believers “have been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will” (Eph. 1:11) and if something in your past did not “work out” then it most likely was not in the will of God. “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builder labors in vain” (Ps. 127:1) and I truly believe that God knows the end from the beginning and His purpose for you and me will come about (Isa. 46:10). When life deals us such a hard blow that we tend to pull the hard shell around our hearts we are in trouble. When a heart hardens the ears (hearing the Word of God-Heb. 3:15) are the first to stop functioning and then the tears (crying out to God – Ps. 34:17-18) stop flowing and the fear of God fades (Pro. 9:10).
Long term memory is a wonderful and coveted thing; looking at family pictures from your youth; the birth of your children or grandchildren. Remember all of these events with joy and happiness rather than regret or wishing you could do it all over and this time “get it right”. To fill your thoughts with unpleasant memories is a waste of “memory space”. We are to have a mind like Christ and this means to forget the past sins the same way that God forgets upon confession and repentance (Ps. 103:12). He nailed our sins to the Cross (Col. 2:14) and we should and are able through the power of the Holy Spirit, to set our hearts and minds on things above (Col. 3:1). “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things” (Phil. 4:8). Most of our “fights” are in our minds but remember that the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. They have divine power to demolish strongholds and arguments and every claim that the devil makes on our thoughts. Satan has no authority over us except that which we give him. We can take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:4-5).
You might ask; ‘Didn’t God dig up some bones in the Bible’? And you would be right! This is the story of God telling Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones; “Dry bones; hear the Word of the Lord” (Ezek. 37:1-4). He was to say to the bones that the Lord would make breath enter them and they would come to life. They would be attached with tendons, flesh would cover them and they would rise up. Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there to hear the rattling sound when the bones came together? Wouldn’t you have loved to have seen the look on Ezekiel’s face? The reason for this was indeed to resurrect the memories of the good times and the blessings that God had given to Israel in the past. Israel had given up and thought their hopes were gone and they had been cut off. This prophesy was to show God’s people that He and only He could open the graves and bring them back to the land of Israel. He said He would put His Spirit into them; they would settle in their own land and know that He was the Lord. God can and will ‘raise’ hopeless Christians to life if only we would learn to “be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). He will again pour out His Spirit on all people and sons, daughters, young men and old men will dream, have visions and prophesy. They will be shown wonders in the Heaven above and signs on the earth below (Acts 2:17-19)! When we find ourselves in a dream world of hopelessness, we need only to clap our hands, shout to God with cries of joy, sing praises to God for He is the King of all the earth and our hope lies in Him (Ps. 47:1-7, Ps. 39:7).
Ways to keep your mind clear is to keep your conscience clear before God and man (Acts 24:16, Heb. 10:22); have faith in God that everything will happen just as He says it will (Acts 27:25); rejoice in your sufferings because suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And this hope does not disappoint us (Rom. 5:3-5). We, like Paul, do not always understand what we do and sometimes we do things we know are not good but thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, He will rescue us from our sinful nature (Rom. 7:15-25). The next time you find yourself wishing for something in the past, remember that the same hope that God gave the Israelites He has given to all believers and it is in this hope we were saved (Rom. 8:24). Instead of digging up old skeletons of sadness and past disappointments, have the faith of being sure of what you hope for and that is eternal life (Heb. 11:1). “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary and they will walk and not be faint” (Isa. 40:31)! “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23). Now, is not soaring on wings like eagles much better than digging up old dry bones?