Just breathe

I was in the middle of some kind of "half moon prayer twist" (or something like that) last night. The guy on the DVD was leading us through our yoga workout--which I have still not gotten used to though I am getting better at it. As I sweated and huffed, the dude on the screen said for the 20th time, "Don't forget to breathe."

That struck me as really funny. Aside from the fact that I was huffing and puffing at an alarming rate, the idea that he had to tell us to remember to breathe was comical. In my head, I pictured thousands of people all over the country passing out while they worked out because they "forgot" to breathe. I mean, isn't that natural? I was always taught that this was something you didn't have to train someone to do; it's something you just know.

But it got me thinking about that word...breathe. In Scripture, the Holy Spirit is described with words such as wind and breath. God started this whole thing off by breathing life into man and He has been longing to breath new life into us ever since. Without breath, we struggle to live...or worse, we die.

Without God, our lives are remarkably the same way. This is why, all around us, we see lives that are struggling and straining to truly live--not just make it--really thrive. In fact, many of them are like me last night...huffing and puffing to catch our breath, gasping for that next flow of life-giving air. Spiritually and emotionally, He is our sustenance--it His breath (I'm talking Holy Spirit here), breathed into us, that gives us abundant life. So, as you go through your day...your week...don't forget to breathe.