Faith opens all the windows to God’s wind….
(G Macdonald – 1824-1905: Diary of an Old Soul)
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
(Gen 2.7)
I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!… I will make breath enter you and you will come to life… Then you will know that I am the Lord.'”
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet..
(Ezek 37. 3-6,9&10)
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
(Jn 3.6-8)
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else… God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’
(Acts 17.24-28)
As I sit to write today, the windows are open all over the house, and there is a steady sound of wind and sea blowing in, it makes my heart dance to hear it and to smell the fresh air wherever I go. We instinctively know that it is not good for us to live in sealed boxes, that we need air and the refreshing power of wind to invigorate our senses.
The wind itself gives us a powerful picture of God’s spirit at work in the world; Jesus’ words point out that we cannot see either one, and yet we clearly see their impact as they pass! I believe that ever since I was first able to acknowledge Jesus as Lord of my life, this Spirit has been a constant presence, a power of transformation as God makes me new and more Christ-like day by day. I also believe that I can and should reflect on the work of the Spirit – in the way that we go from room to room in our houses and decide where the air is stale and where there is danger of mould setting in!
The breath of life is God at work to make dead bones live, to bring humanity out of the sin-death in which it is bound and to revive it for a glorious future in the new creation. The breath of life is also God at work in his children, like a diligent housekeeper, seeking those places where transformation is yet to be realised, those rooms which have been closed against Him thus far, or where the dust has been allowed to accumulate and the air to grow stale.
Bear with me, the picture is a little flippant, but the point is valid… as I reflect on my life, I ask the Lord to show me where I am resisting the work of that Spirit of life and transformation; I ask to recognise those things which I am keeping out of his reach, in case I should be asked to do something about them!
I ask the Lord to show me those things which are lurking like mouldy newspapers, in a corner of my life, so much rubbish but also potentially dangerous to my faith if I neglect to deal with them.
I ask the Lord to breathe transforming power into my vision of him, so that as I see the love, power and beauty of Christ, my courage is renewed, my hope strengthened, and my desire to serve him revived, so that I cannot rest until I am active in sharing the gospel.
O Lord Jesus, let me throw the windows wide. Blow through me with life and vigour and stir me up to fresh zeal and eagerness to serve you and glorify you and to delight in you. Breath of life itself, permeate all my inner chambers and fill them with the clean and wholesome airs of your truth, power and faithfulness. Make my house sing!