The Breath Of Life

In the original Latin, the word that spirit comes from means “breath”. When we repent and seek for the Lord to fill us with His spirit, we are essentially asking Him to fill us with breath. In the parable of the sower, Jesus describes the seed that fell among thorns as those who, “when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” If we are struggling to feel the spirit, if we are struggling to receive the Breath of the Lord, it may be that we are being choked by the cares and the concerns of this world. I’ve struggled with allergies for most of my life, to the point that I’m pretty used to breathing through a nose that is congested most of the time. But when I take the time to clear all of that out, it is an amazing feeling being able to breathe freely with little to no effort. And it surprises me every time how much better my breathing is, to the point that I’ll just sit there and breathe for several seconds in wonder and delight. It’s the same with our spirits. When we repent and clear out all of those worldly concerns that are choking and cutting off our air flow, we can feel this incredible lightness and freedom and wonder at how much breath we have. Just like in the physical world, if we’re not breathing then we’re not living, so too in matters pertaining to our soul, if we don’t have the Spirit with us, if we don’t have that Breath, then we’re not really spiritually alive. God doesn’t want us to collapse gasping for breath. He promises us that His Spirit, His Breath, can be with us from moment to moment, so that no matter what hardships or trials we face, no matter how much it seems like we are drowning in our fears and sorrows, we can still have Breath if we turn to the Lord.