Did you know there are 206 bones in the human body and when you were born you had 300, but you lost some of them on the way? As a baby grows many of their bones fuse together and become one.
Without bones we would just be a big blob of blubber, unable to go to Church, or even lift a bible, and would just slither along like a big fat jelly fish. Maybe some of you feel like that already but I assure you that you do have bones in there some where. We need bones to support our bodies and when we take regular intakes of calcium it keeps them healthy and strong. A major source of calcium comes from milk; the bible says that we must desire the milk of God’s word to build up our bodies.
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” 1 Peter 2:2
Now that you have had your biology lesson on the 206 bones that make up your human body, I want to talk to you about 3 very important spiritual bones that are necessary in the Body of Christ and they are;
The Wish Bone, the Back Bone and the Funny bone.
One of the most important spiritual bones in our New Man is the ‘Wish Bone’.
When my sister and I were young we used to fight over who gets a chance to break the wish bone when we had chicken dinners. After the ritual, if you ended up with the biggest part of the bone you could make a wish. You would naturally make a wish for the ‘thing’ that meant a lot to you at the time – some great pressing need in your life, like a bicycle, a new toy or to wake up with no pimples. It was a special wish that was not to be wasted on frivolous things. Of course this is just an ‘old wives tale’ but we humans need to have a wish, a hope or a dream to keep us alive.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish:” Proverbs 29:18
Without vision people perish, and so many give up on life because they have no vision for the future. There is one thing the Devil wants to kill in each and every one of us, and that is our hope for a better future. Hope is the light we see at the end of our dark tunnel (and it’s not the train coming.) When our hope dies we die too but when we have something to believe in and wish for, it gives us strength to carry on. Having a wish bone is such an important part of our spiritual DNA.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12
With Christ there is always hope for each and every one of us.
I don’t know if any of you saw the first Matrix SiFi Movie? If you did then you will recall that the machines who created the Matrix software found that without ‘hope’ human beings despaired of life and eventually died from lack of vision. The machines decided to write into future software a belief that someone was going to come and save them from their lot in life, a chosen one, a hero, and as you know ‘Neo’ was the ‘ONE’.
Praise God we Christians all have a ‘glorious hope’ and that is that one day our ‘chosen one’ Jesus will come and get us out of this horrible mess. This is not a fantasy like the Matrix, but truth. Having a wish bone will help you survive the long haul of life. This is why we need to constantly nourish our ‘wish bones’ with the calcium of God’s word. Here is a great calcium tablet. Jeremiah 29:11 comes to mind.
'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
Paul had lots of hope in his life, and when he faced many a tough time his wish bone was still in good shape and got him through. He was always optimistic.
“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.” Philippians 1:12-14.
Paul could be shackled with chains by the Romans, but his message could not be chained; the Romans could change his location but they couldn’t change his attitude for he had a strong wishbone. Lets make sure we have one too.
The next bone that needs attention is our ‘Back Bone’, and this is also a very important bone in the New Creation. If any of you have had a bad back you will know how debilitating that can be. One vertebra out of joint or a pinched nerve and you can laid up in bed for weeks, unable to do a thing. They say that you are only as strong as your back, and I’m sure that’s true. I had to do stretching exercises each day so that my back was strong in order to play regular games of squash without putting my back out. Spiritual backbone is having the strength to face danger and keep going. Look at the strength of Paul’s Back Bone.
“Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 2 Corinthians 11:23-25.
“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24.
We need to get it into our thick heads that if we are going to go on for Christ, things are not going to get any easier, so we need to strengthen our backbones. I love quoting this verse to myself. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, for it gives me strength when I’m suffering. It’s my infirmities that give me power.
“Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Something that has also helped me to keep going when others have fallen away is my ‘Funny Bone’ or sense of humour. It has sustained me in times of deep dark trouble. My sense of humour has got me through bullying at school, and later while in the army in Africa and then in hard times of ministry.
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Proverbs 17:22.
Having a sense of humour and joy are not an optional extra but are seriously part of our survival gear in our war against Satan. I thank God for this wonderful gift of laughter that has seen me through my years as a Christian. There is great power in laughing in the Devil’s face. It can be developed into a ‘spirit of rejoicing’ that opens prison doors and gives us songs in the night.
“But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25
Jesus was happy and the bible says that He was anointed with the oil of gladness more than others, as we see in Psalm 45:7.
“You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows.”
Humour is very much a part of our society today and we need it to relate to this generation. It may not have been the same in the time of the Pharisees, but nevertheless Jesus did use a type of humour back in the day as seen in Mark 10:25.
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Having a strong funny bone will see you through the hardest of times and can also bring health to your ailing body. It also gives you divine strength in the face of adversity as we see in Nehemiah 8:10:
“Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."