The Lord makes great note of the Holy Spirit in Scripture. In the New Testament alone there are over 260 references. I have written two poems about this eternal urge, this tremendous breath of God, because I am so conscious of the Spirit. The breath of God is the very essence of my life and being.

The message in this poem has to do with our need of the Holy Spirit. In Hebrew, the word “Spirit” is ruah, in Greek, pneuma. It means “breath,” or “out­ breathing.” What is your breath? It is your life. The Holy Spirit is the very life of God. It was through Him that the world was created and by His power all things are sustained in the universe. All three of the Godhead are in it-God the Father is causation; Jesus executes the will; and the Holy Spirit brings to its completion the whole design of God.

This poem tells us of three epochs of our expe­rience. The morning depicts the first stages of our development. This is youth—the life and glory of the sunrise, vision, adjustment; school is for this. That soon moves on into the rush and hurry of the daily toil. This is our middle age—manhood, responsibility, ser­vice, adjustment; we are conscious of the fleeting hours, the burdens that press and the shadows that come. The eventide is the declension; the coming to its climax and fulness of what we have and are. It is the benedic­tion on old age—contemplation and memory. And in every phase of our development the Spirit of God is the only One who can accomplish this feat of transform­ing. He will bring it through to its completion, its final ending, a flame to burn for Thee with love divine.