Breathe Into Me

Every Monday we’ll post something to do with maintaining sexual purity. Hope it helps.

—

Breathe Into Me 

And this is how it feels when I ignore the words you spoke to me
And this is where I lose myself when I keep running away from You
And this is who I am when, when I don’t know myself anymore
And this is what I choose when it’s all left up to me
Breathe your life into me. I can feel You, I’m falling, falling faster
Breathe your life into me, I still need You —
Breathe into me

– “Breathe into Me” by RED

I’m hopelessly outdated where music’s concerned, contemporary Christian music in particular. I remember speaking a few years back at the Cornerstone Festival, often referred to as the “Woodstock of Christian Music”, and wandering about the concert tents looking in vain for a group I was familiar with. I thought “contemporary” meant Andrae Crouch, and don’t you dare say, “Andrae who?” So I haven’t a clue who’s big in the world of contemporary Christian music, and since my taste runs more to easy listening than to hard rock, I’m OK with that.

But while driving home with my teenage son last week, we were listening to a Christian music station when this song “Breathe Into Me” by RED came on. It caught my attention and I pulled over, wanting to take it all in, excited to hear a well phrased musical description of what so many of us experience. I asked my son who these guys were, and since he looked at me as though I’d just asked if John Lennon was somebody, I must assume that RED is a big name in the industry. Well, now they’re big with me, too, because despite their musical style being far from what I usually listen to, in this song they’ve captured the spirit/flesh struggle with painful accuracy. My hat tips, enthusiastically, to anyone who communicates Biblical truth in a relevant way, and I think these guys deserve a hand for that.

The song fits in with what our Sunday school class leader pointed out this weekend – that keeping ourselves unspotted from the world is part of what God views as “true and undefiled religion”. (James 1:27) That tells me that I have a seemingly impossible mandate to live in this world without being influenced by it. Well, come on, that’s like saying “Sit in the middle of a rock concert, but don’t be affected by the music.” It’s playing full throttle, everybody’s dancing to it, I can’t help hearing it, but I’m not supposed to be effected by it?

No, I’m not. True, I can’t help hearing it, but – and this is only by the grace of God! – I don’t have to dance to it. That’s the difference He’s made in my life. I absolutely do hear the music, and no doubt from time to time my feet start tapping to it, my mind soaks it in, and I consider letting myself go and dancing to such compelling rhythms. Then the work God has done, and is doing, kicks in. I’m tempted to dance to the world’s tune because it is, after all, so attractive, and I’m by no means delivered from hearing it, nor from even desiring it at times. But when the time comes to choose between dancing and sitting it out, I’m delighted to be able to say No Thanks and continue being about my Father’s business. There’s my miracle; and there’s my hope.

Take a few minutes to listen to these guys. You can find their song on YouTube here.  If you’re like me, you’ll wish they were a little more Mama’s and Papa’s and a little less Hendrix, but what the heck, they’ve got a terrific message and a means of communicating that undoubtedly reaches a generation so in need of it.

So God grant that all of us walk in the light, keeping it clean, and living out our praises verbally and behaviorally as well. Hope you have a terrific week.