“Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.… and you shall know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:5-6 ESV)
The word in Hebrew for breath is transliterated as Ru’ach (wind, breath, mind and spirit). For me being a Christian is having the capacity to be able to breathe in God’s influence through prayer, reading the Bible and listening to Him allowing Him to highlight and remove the crud – sin.
In breathing we dispose of any unwanted carbon dioxide because too much of it becomes toxic to our bodies. We also need to take in enough oxygen to keep the body working. Simplistically the same is true for our spiritual life. What we take in and what do in our lives makes the difference between being “Alive” as a Christian and being “lukewarm” (see Revelation 3:16 for Jesus’ view).
Of course we take our breathing for granted, for most of the time, we do not have to consider each breath; it is automatic until we run out of it or we suddenly find breathing a struggle. My daughter Sarah, was born with a missing lung, at the time she needed the assistance of life support. The doctors gave her ninety percent oxygen to keep her alive in an incubator until she gained the use of her second lung (which is another experience and a miracle). Spiritual lives can be just the same: without the routine of prayer, reading the Bible and listening to God via the aid of the influence of the Holy Spirit we will die to our faith, although Jesus is always faithful.
Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit to reveal and aid Christians in how to grow in the assurance of His Love for us. Maybe you are a Christian needing Spiritual Life support because it is all new. Maybe you are an old Christian that has been through the mill and feel aggrieved with Jesus because life is not going the way you wanted and, frankly, not what you thought you signed up for?
“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again. ’The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:7-8 ESV)
The people of God are given the Holy Spirit and the freedom to listen to its whispers in our minds or not [see Elijah’s story: “And after the fire came a gentle whisper…” (1 Kings 19:12b ESV)]!
However where we travel with Jesus is a life’s exploration through the life-giving influence of the Holy Spirit’s whispers and interaction so talk with God.
Prayer: Lord, come to us, cleanse us, speak to us because without Your influence in us we are doomed to misunderstanding for ourselves, and those we interact with today, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Roderick Marshall
