(The following is the May 2 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read John 20 and pay close attention to verses 19-23.)

Jesus appeared to the disciples as they gathered behind locked doors on Resurrection Sunday evening. He greeted them, showed them his pierced hands and side, and commissioned them: “‘As the Father has sent me, I also send you.’ After saying this, he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (vv. 21-22).

In the Old and New Testaments, Hebrew and Greek words translated “spirit” also mean “breath” or “wind.” We see this when “the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters” (Gen. 1:2, where ruach means “Spirit”) and again when Jesus breathed on the disciples saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 22, where pneuma means “Spirit”). God not only breathed into humankind the breath of life, but he breathes into his children the indwelling Holy Spirit. He is the source of physical and spiritual life. Without him, we are as lifeless as Ezekiel 37’s valley of dry bones. But when we are alive in Christ, he breathes his Spirit into us, commissions us, and grants us the power to do his will. “As the Father has sent me, I also send you” (v. 21).

Edwin Hatch’s 1878 hymn, “Breathe on Me, Breath of God,” based on John 20:21-22, should still be the Christian’s desire:  

Breathe on me, Breath of God,
fill me with life anew,
that I may love the way you love,
and do what you would do.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,
until my heart is pure,
until my will is one with yours,
to do and to endure.  

Next Step:
Search online or other resources for complete versions of the song “Breathe on Me, Breath of God.” Read or listen to it and let the words be your solemn prayer.