The beautiful figure suggested by the words "He breathed on them" is full of simple instruction. It is as easy to receive the Holy Spirit as it is to breathe. It almost seems as if the Lord had given His disciples the very impression of breathing, and had said, "Now this is the way to receive the Holy Spirit." It is not necessary for us to go to the isolation room of a hospital to have our lungs contaminated with impure air. All we need to do is to keep in our lungs the air we inhaled a minute ago, and it will kill us. All the pure elements have been absorbed from it, and there is nothing left but carbon and other deadly gases. Therefore, if we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must first be emptied not only of our old sinful life, but of our old spiritual life. We must take a new breath every moment, or we will die. God wants us to empty out all our being into Him. Then we can take Him in-without needing to try too hard. A vacuum always becomes filled; an empty pair of lungs unavoidably breathes in the pure air. If we are only in the right attitude, there will be no trouble about receiving the Holy Spirit.
