One of my granddaughters is staying with us this weekend. My daughter had taken her to a doctor's appointment for my son who is in rehab, and then dropped her off here. Grandpa, she and I went out to lunch (of course. He loves food and will agree to anything if there is food involved) and then she and I went shopping for a short while. We picked up a few things for our new little one who is to arrive in early September. Also some things for where she lives. It seems they have very little to cook with. Whatever we get, she can take with her when she moves out. Her dad bought her a set of pots and pans; she and I will go to Savers and Goodwill today and look for dishes and glasses. I've given away all the extra dishes I had when I moved. See, I should have hung on to them! I could let go of a few more, but there are so many at Savers and Goodwill, we will be able to get quite a bit. I just want to help her so that after the baby comes and she finishes school next year, she can get a job and move out from where she is staying.
I casually asked her yesterday what she was going to name the baby. I told her I was not going to suggest names; I was just curious if she had made up her mind. She said her dad wants to name him Ezekiel. Along with a couple other names. I asked her why Ezekiel and she said he chose it and wants to call the baby E Z or something like that. I asked if she knew that Ezekiel was a prophet in the Bible. No, she didn't. And I'm sure her father doesn't remember either; he just liked the sound of the name. Although it is an unusual name to use, I feel there is promise in that name. This child may be the one who will lead them both to Jesus. Why do I think that?
Ezekiel 37 tells of a conversation the prophet had with God. You will remember it I'm sure, as I give you a bit of it....
Ezekiel 37:3-6 (NKJV): "And He said to me, "Son of man, can these ones live?" So I answered, "O Lord God, You know." Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD."
Do you remember the story now? As Ezekiel prophesies over the dry bones in the valley, tendons, muscles, and skin comes upon the bodies and breath is breathed into them and they rise up and live.
Oh that is what Jesus does for each one of us! Do you not see how this prophesy can also affect each one of us? God has knit us together in our mother's womb. He made us perfect, each one, in His eyes. It doesn't matter if our body in human eyes is perfect or not, in God's eyes, each one of us is perfect. He knit us together, He breathed life into us. He chose us to be His own.
And even after we have grown and gone our own ways... the ways of the world... we are still in the palm of His hand. He knew what we were going to do before we even thought it. Remember Abraham? God told him that his decendants would be captive for 400 hundred years - long before Abraham had decendants! The Lord also told Abraham that He would lead them OUT OF EGYPT with great possessions.
OUT OF EGYPT. Do you realize that when we allow life to enslave us - to anything - to debt, to the wrong people, to jobs we don't like, to influences that destroy us - we are enslaved to that thing? We allow these things to control who we are and what we do - until we are but a shell of the person, an enslaved person at that - of all that God has for us. Yes, I say has, for Jesus is our Redeemer and He can redeem us from the pits of hell and set our feet on solid ground and restore to us what the enemy has taken away. He can remove our enslavement and set us free! Isn't that a great thing? We should be rejoicing of what we have been set free from! For some it can be immediate, for others it takes time and work. But it is our choice - we are given the freedom to choose. I choose not to be enslaved to the things of this world. Yes, some things I still have no control over, but God will prevail and will help me to make the right choices when I choose Him above all other things. Hallelujah!
The more I think about the name Ezekiel that this new baby may have, I get excited. I pray that little Ezekiel will grow up in the power of the Lord and that he will be blessed and be a blessing. I pray that he will turn the hearts of his parents and grandparents and all that know him, to Jesus. I pray that he will become a great and mighty prophet of the Lord. Yes, he has a name that prophesies and I call out to God to bestow upon baby Ezekiel the power of the Lord and that he will lead others to Jesus.
I have three other grandsons that have biblical names as well. We have a Thomas... we have a David... and we have a Nathan. And I pray that the power of God will fall upon them and they will lead their families to Jesus. That would make this grandma's heart happy. The greatest joy a mother - or grandmother - could have is to know that her children walk with Jesus.
Blessings!
