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Hot summer months usher in the season of swimming pools and beach vacations. Days of rest and relaxation often include water-based destinations, preceded with great anticipation of fun in the sun. Have not most children competed with friends to determine who could hold their breath the longest submerged under water? But fun and games can turn to tragedy quickly. More than three minutes without oxygen will result in the destruction of brain cells. Death from drowning ensues after approximately ten minutes.
Many Christ followers live as though they are holding their breath spiritually, gasping for air as waves of entrenched sin patterns seek to engulf them. When we trusted in Jesus to save us from our sins, God breathed His supernatural life into our spirit. The same Holy Spirit power that raised Christ from the dead also raised us up to live a new, godly life. God deposited within us His Holy Spirit to empower us to grow up into the likeness of Jesus. God not only calls us to holy transformation, but has provided us with the power to accomplish His divine purposes. Striving to conquer sin in our own strength, apart from the Holy Spirit’s empowerment, is like a drowning person trying to save himself.
Jesus said that His words are spirit and life. Just as physical life is maintained through the constant intake of oxygen, our spiritual vitality is dependent upon the intake of Christ’s words. As you humbly come to Jesus, the Holy Spirit will teach you and empower you to obey His words. The outcome is increasing degrees of holy transformation in thoughts, words and deeds. Instead of sinking into a sea of sin, your life will become filled with moral victory laps, like those of a disciplined Olympic swimmer.
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
John 14:26
