“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4

When you walk into a buffet, do the waitresses put on riot helmets? Are you out of breath after putting on socks? Do you put something into your shirt pocket and realize you aren’t wearing a shirt? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have the same problem as millions of Americans, myself included. Of course these are jokes, but after middle age crept in for me – a while ago – I haven’t exactly stayed in the best shape. Most of it has to do with me not keeping my body moving. I’m relatively sedentary most of the day and just don’t get going. This has led to me being out of breath after doing relatively simple things, which annoys me; so I’m going to do something about it and start exercising my body.

There’s more to life than the body though. Many of us exercise our bodies, but don’t take care of what’s inside. The fact is that you are more than just a body; you are a soul as well. Your soul, your spirit of life within you, was literally God breathed. In the Bible, the Hebrew word used for spirit actually means breath or wind. And just as our bodies can be out of breath when we don’t exercise, our souls can lack as well when we don’t exercise them. When you lift weights, you gain power. When we spend time with Jesus in prayer and the scriptures, we are gaining His mighty power. It’s more than just power to pick up weights, it is power to handle the weight that this stressful world places on you daily.

Unfortunately, in this life you will have your fair share of battles. One of those battles is finding and making time for Jesus and prayer. I’ve always been a big advocate for a “holy hour” in the morning to start your day. Even if it’s just fifteen minutes or whatever you can give, that time with Christ is time very well spent. It helps you to face those tough times throughout the rest of your day. You know where you stand with the Lord and you know that He will always be near, even if the rest of the world and the rest of your day goes badly.

When I was young, it was easy to keep healthy because I was always on the move. I was very physically active in my work and play lives. I didn’t have to think about it, I just was fit. Now that I have a physically easier life, it has been easy for me to forget that I need to keep moving. The same goes for many of us in our spiritual lives. When times are hard, it is a common thing for a Christian to pray and read the Bible. We turn to God and we praise Him all the way. However, when times are easy, we often forget to keep giving God the glory and keep moving in our spiritual lives. There gets to be more dust on our Bibles, and a closed Bible is just an open door for the devil to get at you.

You may be winded and out of breath when you face some stressful activities, but when the stresses of life hit you, don’t be caught without the breath of God strengthening you. The biggest battle you will have is keeping your daily time spent with God, but if you lose that battle, every other battle you face will become a much harder fight.

God’s blessings to you.

DH