An Object Lesson

Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say
He was made out of snow
But the children know how he came to life one day

There must have been some magic in
That old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around

Frosty the snowman was alive as he could be
And the children say he could laugh and play
Just the same as you and me

Frosty the snowman knew the sun was hot that day
So he said, Let’s run and have some fun before I melt away
Down to the village with a broomstick in his hand
Running here and there all around the square
Saying Catch me if you can

He led them down the streets of town
Right to the traffic cop
And he only paused a moment
When he heard him holler stop

Frosty the snowman
Had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye sayin’, Please don’t cry
I’ll be back again some day.

We sang that song so often when my children were growing up.
We would cuddle on the sofa and watch that short cartoon when they were little.
We would build a snowman in the front yard just like Frosty.
I’m sure there were many times when they secretly wished the snowman would come alive.

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 that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am Lord.’ ”  So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and the tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophecy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them: they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.  (Ezekiel 37:1-10)

I thought of this verse when I looked at the top hat with the sprig of holly.
I thought of the premise of the Frosty song.
Whenever the hat was placed upon his head, Frosty came alive.
Frosty came alive until the sun melted him away.

In no way does God’s Word insinuate anything magical happening to the dry bones.
Instead of a fictional top hat, the bones lying on the ground came alive from the breath of God.
God breathed into those dead bones and they came alive with a rattling sound.
Bones came together, along with tendons then flesh, and skin covered them.

The bones, now alive, became a mighty army.
Where there once was death, now there was life.
Each of us are alive simply because the breath of God is in us.
However, we must be more than just physically alive; we must be spiritually alive.

In order for us to be spiritually alive, we must have the Spirit breathe His breath into us.
We, like those bones, are spiritually dead.
We need new life.
We need the breath of the Spirit to make us come alive.

Like the sun melting the snowman, one day our bodies will die.
However, our souls will live for eternity, either with God or without Him.
We need the breath of the Spirit to breathe on our dead spiritual bones and give them life.
Only then will we stand as the Lord’s army ready to live with Him forever.

A top hat with a sprig of holly became an object lesson to explain salvation.
Imagine.