Sitting in my backyard having breakfast, I watched the mountain breeze stir my palm trees.
The diversity of life was amazing. Hummingbirds scaring their competition away from the feeding jars, and a large tropical blackbird taking his morning spa in the bird bath. Then, honey bees appeared and took morning sips from the cascading fountain next to our breakfast table. Both the birds and the bees had the spark of life.
Hardly able to continue eating my pancakes and bacon, I paused—trying to understand this discovery. Humans are one breath away from death. Our physical spark of life will immediately disappear when we take the last breath. All of what is physically living is here, then it is not.
My heart craved to know what the spark of life was, where it came from, and what happens to it. The Bibles’ clarity says Jesus has provided and maintains the spark of life: “All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing has been made that has been made. In Him was life” (John 1:3-4, 14). Jesus also sustains life: “Who being the brightness of His glory, and the expressed image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power . . .” (Hebrews 1:3).
John 3:16 reveals that Almighty God’s eternal loving life gives an everlasting spark of life to those who believe in what Jesus did on the cross. Confession of our sins and turning away from them allows Jesus to step in with His Word and Spirit. His coming gives unending life to our immaterial spirit. What a joy to be given life abundantly at our second-birth birthday party.
Our hearts are a bonfire where the living sparks of the Spirit lay dormant, waiting for the Father’s breath. Ask Him daily to blow on your spark of life so you can experience and share the Holy Spirit’s fire.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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The Rev. Dr. Bob Segress served as a licensed psychological clinician for twenty-five years. Upon retiring, he served for fifteen years as a prison minister. Retiring again, he began writing full-time after a period of boredom. He has written: The Biblical Approach To Psychology while serving as a college educator, The Shelton Series, and, in 2012, Ten Years Inside Shelton Prison. Currently, he writes for several publications such as Halo Magazine.