Protect your spiritual life
2020-11-17Job 33:4 NIV
There are many things that we go to a lot of effort to protect. We make sure our houses and cars are locked whenever we leave them. We choose strong passwords for online banking. We set lock codes on our phones. But what are we doing to protect our most valuable possession – our spiritual life? Elihu told Job, ‘The breath of the Almighty gives me life.’
When God breathes His spirit into us at the point of salvation, we become spiritually alive. We have the ability to love Him, serve Him, and bring joy to Him. But the enemy is constantly trying to steal this part of our lives from us. To get to it, he’ll attack our bodies and our minds, and try to control us through habits, doubts, and fears. He’ll even work through other people, including close friends and family members.
When God breathed into Adam, he became alive. He recognised who he was and what he was called to do in life. And we also need to recognise that God created and redeemed each one of us for a purpose, otherwise other people will try to ‘breathe’ their identity and agenda into us, which can open the door for them to control us and take our thoughts off God. So we need to protect ourselves.
We can do that by living each day with an awareness of God’s presence. The psalmist said, ‘You are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings!’ (Psalm 61:3-4 NLT). When we’re in that place of safety, the enemy can’t touch us or anything that God has given us.